The biggest treasure
by Neko11
Summary: AU, during Alaska Gold Rush. Luffy, a happy boy, meets great friends on his dangerous way to Alaska, as he hopes to find gold. But soon his friends realize there is something quite wrong with Luffy, and a dark past is uncovered... Updated! Review, pls!
1. The big gold rush

Hello everyone :D this is my first fanfiction ever and I hope it won´t be too bad...

Anyways, I hope it isn´t too confusing! Please enjoy :D

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Chapter 1 - the big gold rush

1896. It was the year when a lot of naive people went to Alaska and Canada fo find their big luck.

The message that gold, tons of precious gold was found at the Klondike River in Canada faded out.

Everyone wanted to be rich. It was their big aim and most of the people would have done _everything_ to reach it. But it wasn´t an easy trip. You could hardly find gold there and if you did it wasn´t easy to get back home safe. And when they were in Alaska or Canada, all alone ´cause they killed their friends of partner ´cause of greed, they suddenly noticed that they can´t survive alone. But when they eventuelly figured that out it was already too late for the most of them...

However, these messages of thousands of dead gold diggers never reached the ears of people who went to Klondike or Yukon River. In fact, nobody would´ve listened to them if they had heard the messages. They were just naive people who dreamed. But hardly any of their dreams came true...

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The Klondike River gold rush began in 1896 and reached its acme in 1897/98.

There werer two different routes you could choose.

The first one started in Skagway in Canada and let to the famous Chilkoot Paß at the frontier between Canada and Alaska. It was a hard trip and from 250 000 people who wanted to reach Dawson city at Klondike River died about 200 000. They were unexperienced and didn´t know how to survive in this ice hell.

The second one started in Seattle in USA. Then you traveled by ship along the All Water Route to St. Michael in Alaska. The city was near the Yukon. This river had a tributary called Klondike ( in Canada) where the gold was found in July 1896. Consequently the chances were high to find gold there, too.

After St. Michael the big adventure along the Yukon River began.

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**15. 10. 1897**

"Sanji! Zoro! Hurry up!!" An orange- haired girl screamed furious.

"HAAI, Nami-swaan!!" Came a happy response.

"Don´t yell at me, stupid which!" Came another, less happier resonse.

"What did you say to Nami - swan?"

"You heard me, Dartbrow. Or are you deaf?"

"What?! Stupid moron!" A nineteen- year - old man shouted. He glared in anger at the green - haired man called Zoro.

"GUYS! Quit arguing! Come on and hurry up! Do you wanna miss the ship?!" Nami yelled again. She had dark brown eyes and was carrying two backpachs.

She and her cousins who ran with more backpacks behind her finally reached the harbour in Seattle. It was already getting dark.

"Finally, guys..", Nami sighed. They put down their heavy bags.

"See, Nami, the ship isn´t here yet." Zoro said.

"I think its already gone.."

"No, we are good in time. We should just wait, it will come soon, " Sanji murmured and lit his cigarette.

Nami, Sanji and Zoro had chosen the All Water Route to the city St. Michael in Alaske. They didn´t wan to go to Dawson City or to the Klondike River, their aim was the Yukon River.

And so had a strange guy with a pigeon, a boy with a dog and a fat woman who where also waiting for the ship.

After a few minutes the ship came and everyone got on board.

They all paid for the route and the capitan told them where their rooms were. Sanji, Zoro and Nami got a room with three beds, on the right side was a room with two beds where the boy and the strange guy with the pigeon slept and on the left side was the one-bed-room of the fat woman with the black hair.

"Good night, you two"

"Night, Nami-swan" The young blond man answered with heart in his eyes and a quiet grumble from Zoro was heard.

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Yay, first chapter done! If you have any questions, please ask! ( I think I explained it very bad...)

And if you want you could take a look at this page, there is a map of Alaska, maybe you´ll understand Nami´s route better:

.org/wiki/Klondike_Gold_Rush

Please tell me what you think of this story ;D


	2. Luffy

Hi :D

Here´s the second chapter!

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Chapter two - Luffy

"AAAAH! Lemme go!"

Sanji quickly opened his eyes.

"Oi, crap cook, wasn´t there a scream?" ( I bet you know who said that..^^)

Sanji ignored the insult. " I think it came from the room with the pigeon guy."

"SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME! "

"AAAh, what´s going on?!" Nami shrieked. "Do something! The boy needs help!"

Zoro and Sanji immediately jumped out of their beds and ran towards the room.

" Damn this pigeon guy! He locked the door!" Sanji cursed.

Huffled screams were heard.

"Shit! This bastard is doing something perverted to the boy!" Zoro spoke angry.

"Oi, Marimo, step aside" Sanji ordered.

Zoro grumbled something like "baka, don´t call me that" and stepped aside. Two seconds later the poor door was in pieces.

"Good kick, cheese head!" The "marimo" compliemented. The two ran into the room and was the strange man on top of the struggling boy who had just his trousers and socks on. The t-shirt laid on the floor.

"Shit" sweared the man as he saw the other two.

Zoro and Sanji quickly pulled the man off of the boy.

"Asshole! What do you think you´re doing?!" yelled Sanji and kicked him hard into the head. The pigeon guy fell to the floor and didn´t move.

"Stupid pervert..." Zoro muttered and scratched his head. He glanced over to the bed where the boy still sat in.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Y-yes..th-thank you.." came the answer, almost a whisper.

"Did he hurt you?" Sanji came over to the boy. A sob was heard. Sanji blinked.

"Err..someone should go and tell the capitan.." Zoro stuttered unsurely. Both he and Sanji didn´t know what to say to comfort the other.

"Tch, baka" they looked towards the "door" where Nami and the capitan were walking in.

The sobbing and shivering boy looked at the unconscious man on the floor.

"What the heck happened here?" The capt´n of the ship frowned and put his hands on his hips, waiting for an explanation.

"W-when I woke up, this strange guy laid on top of me a-and pulled my s-shirt off..he tried t-to r-rape m-e..." The boy sobbed harder.

Sanji went on and explaned the rest.

Nami went over to the boy and simply hugged him. This surprised everyone in the room, Zoro and Sanji including. But they knew Nami wasn´t so scary and hard like she always acts, she could be really nice sometimes. Sometimes..

"Shshsh..it´s okay. Nobody hurts you now. We´re here" she whispered and gently rubbed his back. Soon the sobs stopped and Nami let go of the boy.

"Thanks" he said, " Thank you. I´m Luffy", Luffy smiled a bit.

"No problem. I´m Zoro, this guy with the curly brow is my _Little_ brother (yes, Zoro and Sanji are brothers in this story...) and this is our cousin Nami."

"Nice to meet ya" Luffy grinned happily.

"This perverted Lucci! I´ll throw him overboard! What he did ist totally UNSUPA!!" The capitan grumbled loudly and looked very pissed. The others gulped.

"Heh, I guess that would be the best thing to do with him, capitan Franky" stated Zoro. Franky grabbed Lucci ungently and went towards the deck with him.

"Is he really going to..?" Sanji asked but he couldn´t finish his sentence ´cause of a loud "splash". The four in the room sweatdropped.

"He...threw him...overboard.." Nami blinked surprised.

"Serves him right. Stupid pervert." The green-haired man mumbled.

"Ah, Luffy, what are you doing on this ship?" Sanji turned towards the black haired boy with the scar under his left eye who had put his t-shirt back on.

Zoro and Nami also turned back to him.

Luffy was about 1,70 meters tall and had chocolate brown eyes and short black hair.

"Awww, you´re a cutie, aren´t you??" Nami hugged him again. "How old are you?"

Luffy, who hugged back like they were old friends, answered: "I´m seventeen. And I want to go to Alaska to search for gold!" Nami let go of him. "A gold digger? In Alaska? ALONE?"

"Uhm..I´m not alone, I have Chopper with me" The boy grinned.

"Who´s Chopper? Where is he?" Nami asked suspicious.

"He´s my six-year old dog and he´s upstairs on the deck, capt´n orders. He wasn´t allowed to stay here in this room"

"But Luffy! You can´t just go to Alaska all alone! It´s really dangerous! Do you even know what awaits you there??" Nami reacted like a worrying mother.

Luffy ignored her and asked instead her cousins what they were doing there.

"The same as you" Sanji simply answered.

"DON´T IGNORE ME!" The eigteen-year old girl shouted furious and whacked the poor boy on his head. "S-sorry!" he rubbed the area where he was hit. Nami sighed.

"I´ve got an idea. You could come with us, since we have the same aim. If you want"

The boy put his old strawhat on and froze for a moment. "Really?" Came finally the response.

"If Sanji and Zoro don´t mind" she glared over towards the brothers.

"Sure. Why not?" Sanji sad.

"I don´t mind. As long as he doesn´t cause any sort of trouble." The other shrugged.

"Yay! I´d LOVE to! Thanks minna!! That´s really great!" Luffy cheered. "I must tell Chopper!" With that he ran out of the room as fast as a flash.

"Tch. What an energetic guy.." The three smiled.

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Please review ;D

Next Chapter will come soon!


	3. What does he hide?

Hi everyone, here is the third chap!

enjoy :D

Disclaimer: I don´t own one piece..oda-sensei does!

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Chapter 3 - What does he hide?

A bit later they all sat at the small kitchen table. It was dinner time and one person was missing: the mysterious woman.

"Hey, Franky-san, where is this fat lady? Doesn´t she eat with us?" Nami asked.

"No, she told me she got sea sick and didn´t want to eat. She wanted to stay in her cabin." the capitan answered and brought the meal. Franky had blue hair and he liked cola a lot. He was the capitan and cook of this ship.

Now Sanji, Zoro and Nami could witness Luffys huge appetite for the first time.

"Was it a good idea to decide to take him with with us? With _that _appetite of his...?" Zoro whispered.

"I doubt that but now it´s too late to change our plans." his brother quietly answered.

"Besides, he seems to be lonely. He was so happy after we had told him he could come with us...doesn´t he have parents or someone else?" Nami whispered towards her cousins.

"No." Luffy answered Nami´s question. Said girl froze `he heard me..?` she thought.

Silence.

"Wh-what?" the girl finally asked.

"I don´t have a family. They died years ago." Zoro and Sanji gulped. Nami had hit a wound spot...

"Uhh...sorry..I.." the orange haired girl stuttered unsurely. ´What should I say?? Shit!´ she thought and bit her lip.

But Luffy, to surprise of the others, grinned like an idiot. "Na, it´s okay. Don´t apologize." Then his grin formed into a smile, but it wasn´t a happy one, even Franky could see that.

"Anyways, you don´t wanna go to Dawson, do you?" Nami tried to change the subject.

"Na? Where´s that?" the black haired boy looked quite confusend. "I want to go to this Michael city and then straight ahead to the big river."

The others sweatdropped at this. Does this boy even know what gold looks like? They weren´t sure about that...

Nami rubbed her temples. "Luffy...you should´ve informed yourself better about this...you know, this place is really dangerous! You could easily die there! You should go back home or you will bite the dust!"

Luffy just shrugged.

"Take me serious, damn it!!" "I do, Nami!" the black haired boy defended himself.

"Luffy, Nami´s right, maybe it would be better for you to just go back home. I mean, you could wait a year of two and when you are older and have a bit more informations, you could start with this journey." The blond tried to make Luffy understand it.

"I CAN´T go back!" Luffy yelled and hammered his hands onto the table. Everyone was shocked at this sudden outburst. Luffy looked Sanji, who didn´t know what to say or to do, straight in the eye until he eventually sat back down and sighed.

"What do you mean, it would be better? Better for you? I didn´t ask you to take me with you. I am really happy about that, but if you don´t want me to come with you or if you think I would just die there then I won´t come with you, I will go on my own. You can´t send me back." With that he stood up and left the kitchen. Zoro glared at his brother and his cousin who looked a bit ashamed. They knew they went a bit too far.

"Wow, what was that?" Franky blinked and looked at the door where Luffy had exited a few seconds before. "Aren´t you going to him and talk about that? Lil´ bro has problems, I think." He looked at the three.

Zoro sighed. "I´ll go."

The seventeen-year old boy stood on the deck and watched the sunset while he petted Chopper, his young husky. "I ..*sigh* won´t go back.." he whispered. Zoro raised a brow. `Does he really have that bad proplems at home?`

The older man took a deep breath and wanted to start as the other one noticed him and began to speak. "Sorry. I didn´t mean to be that rude." Luffy bowed his head and turned to Zoro. "I shouldn´t yell at you when you when you´re worried ´bout me. It´s just...you told me to go home..well, I don´t really wanna talk about that..I´m sorry..." he trailed off and his expression went blank as he remembered something. Zoro wondered what it was, but didn´t ask. He sensed that the other didn´t feel comforable about that theme so he wouldn´t ask him.

A few minutes passed, as the green haired one searched for the right words. "Hey, buddy don´t apologize. Nami and Sanji shouldn´t have told you things like that. I mean, who are they, your parents?" Luffy twitched at the word _parent_. Zoro realized that he had chosen the wrong words..he cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Listen, Luffy, you can do what ever you want to, okay? It was a stupid advice the two told you, but you don´t have to follow it. They just tried to warn you." Luffy slowly nodded. "I know. They´re right..I don´t know much about this land. But I won´t die that easily."

"Yes, I know, but why didn´t you inform yourself _a bit _better about the climate and the route?" Zoro asked. There was a longer pause and the older wondered if he had chosen the wrong words again. Luffy didn´t look him in the eye, he avoided his glance. He sighed.

"I didn´t have time to inform." he shortly said in a special kind of voice that told Zoro not to ask anything more. `Fine. If he´s so stubborn. Maybe we can find out later..`

"Ah, however, you can still come with us, that´s no problem. And if there´s anything you wanna tell us, then tell us, we´ll listen to you, okay?" he offered with a small smile.

Again there was a short pause. Luffy looked at him and then...smiled. A smile from ear to ear. It was the biggest smile Zoro had ever seen and he wondered where the other boy was gone to. This boy looked like the most happiest teenager in the world.

"Nehehe, thanks Zoro"!

"Uhh, no problem...now let´s go inside, it´s getting cold here, okay?"

"`kay!" Luffy still grinned. But then, all of sudden, he had a _very _shocked expression on his face. He stopped and so did Zoro who was a bit surprised at this. Before he could ask what was wrong, Luffy answered the unspoken question.

"Oh My GOD! My FOOD is getting COLD! Or Sanji and the others have already _eaten_ it...I- I must hurry! Come on!!" The boy ran like lightning towards the kitchen. Zoro stood there, a dumb expression wearing, not moving. "Tch, really..." he shaked his head and couldn´t help but smile.

Back in the kitchen, Zoro heard Luffy quickly apologize to a surprised Nami and Sanji who blinked a bit confused but didn´t say anything.

Chopper sat down under the table next to Luffy and Franky forunately didn´t seem to mind.

The rest of the dinner was quiet. Before they all went to bed Nami explained their route to Luffy. It was the same route Luffy wanted to go, the orange haired girl and her cousins also hadn´t planned to go to Dawson city, they just wanted to travel along the Yukon and search for gold there. The most gold diggers went to Dawson city and then to the river Klondike, a tributary of Yukon river.

Nami thought it was important to know at least the basic names of the city and the river so she told Luffy.

Mentioned boy just nodded a bit uninterested and went with a quick `g´ night´ towards his room.

When Nami was in her room, she walked towards her bag.

"Nami-swan, have you told Luffy?" Sanji yawned. But Nami did instead of answer loudly scream. Zoro and Sanji looked at each other, wondering what was wrong.

Luffy and the capitan quickly raced to their room. The poor brothers still had no idea what was going on. "Oi, oi, what´s the problem? Something wrong??" Franky asked alarmed.

"I dunno, Nami shrieked all of sudden!" Zoro frowned and glanced at his still screaming cousin. She had her hands in her bag. Slowly she put them out and ran as fast as possible out of the room.

The others just stand ther, a stupid look on their faces. They looked at each other, a big questionmark above their heads. A few minutes of silence followed til it finally made `click` in their heads. They ran like a bat out of hell after Nami. Said person was found in the room of the fat woman, Alvida was her name.

But it Alvida wasn´t there anymore.. and Nami shrieked again.

"Would you mind telling us what the hell is wrong?!" Zoro loudly tried to reach his cousin´s ears. Nami was very pissed off and rose her fists. The others quickly took a big step back, as a precaution.

"Th-that BITCH! She stole my money!! And now she´s gone!!" Nami bristled with anger.

"So she tricked us." Franky stated. "YES SHE DID! THIS SLUT! I´M GOING TO..!!"

"Please Nami-san, try to calm down a little..." Sanji said desperated. But no one could stop Nami´s anger right now..

"So Alvida told me she wouldn´t come to dinner, took sis´ ´s money and then she took the small boad I had on board and bunked..that was tricky!" Franky shaked his head.

"That´s NOT tricky, it was CHEAP!! I´ll kill her if I see her again..!!" the furious girl cried.

"Wow, is she always like that when she´s angry..?" Luffy asked scared.

"If somebody touched her money, yes." Sanji answered. He had known his cousin for a few years now. Then he turned to Nami. "But Nami-darling, Zoro and me still have our money, we´ll pay for you, don´t worry, my angel!"

"Stupid love cook, she´s you _cousin_..." Zoro grumbled. Suddenly Luffy laughed loudly. "You guys are funny!" The others blinked at that.

"I´m NOT FUNNY I´M FURIOUS!!" Nami obviously was pretty pissed off.. but Luffy didn´t seem to mind, he just laughed harder.

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Later that evening, when everyone was finally in their rooms, Luffy laid in his bed, still awake. His dog, Chopper, laid right next to him (Franky didn´t know that, Luffy hid Chopper in his room, ´cause he didn´t want Chopper to stay outside in a cold night and he didn´t want to be alone).

"Ne, Chopper, we´ll never ever go back home, right?" He whispered into the darkness while he was petting his precious dog. Chopper shivered at the word _home_.

"We´ll never go back, I promise..."

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Well, this chapter was a bit longer than the other two.

I hope, you liked it, please tell me :D and if you didn´t like it, then tell me anyway (critique allowen..;D)

See you next chapter!


	4. A new nakama

Hello :D Thank you very much psyoran for the review ;D !! And yes, Usopp will appear this chapter!

Enjoy :D

Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, Oda-sensei does!

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**Chapter 4 - A new nakama**

It took another six days until they finally arrived at St. Michael. It was really cold there and it started to snow.

The four quickly said goodbye to Franky who stood on deck, crying.

"I´m not crying! This is so sad..but I´m not crying, damn it! Good luck, minna!"

"Thanks! Take care!" Luffy and the others waved him.

They walked through the city. The city didn´t have a road, it consisted of mud and dirt like most of the citys at that time. The "road" lead straight ahead. There were saloons, old houses and pubs.

The people outside didn´t move when the four friends passed. They just glared at them, and some of them had knives or guns in their hands. Luffy, Nami and her cousins ignored them.

"It´s fucking cold here.." Sanji shivered. He wore his usual trousers plus a warm coat.

"Don´t be a pussy. We´ll buy some warm clothes tomorrow." Zoro smirked. Sanji just grumbled.

"Okay, we are searching for a cheap hotel for tonight. It´s too late to buy proviant, we´ll do this tomorrow, okay?" Nami decided.

"And then the big adventure can begin! I´m so exited!"

"Yes, yes, Luffy. By the way, you have enough money for a hotel and proviant, haven´t you?"

"I think so. I´ve at least 500 $ or so." the boy shrugged. The strange looking men on the streets turned around and stared at him.

Zoro´s, Nami´s and Sanji (´s ) eyes widened at that. "What?! Oi, oi, are you serious??" Sanji couldn´t believe that. "You are kidding, right?"

"No. I´m not kidding. What´s the problem? I thought you need much money for a journey like this." Luffy rose his eyebrow.

Zoro´s jaw hit the ( very dirty) floor and Nami´s joined. "Uh, Luffy, Where the hell do you have that much money from?!"

"It doesn´t matter, right? The main thing is that I have enough money." The boy merely answered. The people around them started to murmur.

That was completely unexcepted. Luffy looked like he had barely enough money for food or clothes...He didn´t have parents so where did that money come from??

"It does matter, Luffy!" Nami shrieked nervously.

The strawhat boy sighed. "I won it in a card game at home."

The others looked at him suspeciously but didn´t ask more. They knew exactly that he was lying, but they also knew how stubborn Luffy could be. If he didn´t tell them then they won´t get it out of him. Sanji spoke:

However, we shouldn´t talk about money here, I don´t trust these guys around us."

"Right. Ah, there´s a hotel, look. I hope it won´t be too expensive..." Nami gulped. Zoro rolled his eyes. "You don´t even have to pay, what´s your problem?"

Sanji´s eye twitched. Nami, who had noticed that, sighed. Another argument...

"Don´t you dare and be so rude to Nami-swan again!"

"You wanna fight or something, shitty perverted cook?"

"What? You stupid moron! I told you not to call me that! Are you a baka or something??"

"You..! I ´ll kick your sorry ass ´til you lay on your knees begging for mercy!"

"Tch. Big words from a big jerk. Bring it on!" Sanji went into a fighting modus and so did Zoro. The two lifted their fists and...

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP?? I´M SO DAMN TIRED OF YOUR CHILDISH FIGHTS!" Nami hit them both hard on the head and they fell kissing the ground.

Luffy just laughed at that. He loved these scenes, it was so funny to watch!

The people around them widened their eyes and blinked. That was a crazy group...

When the two finally recovered after that they went into the hotel. It looked old and not too comfortable ( comfortable = expensive! says Nami)

They took two rooms.

Zoro and Sanji got one small room for theirselves and the other room got Nami and Luffy.

"You think it was a good idea to take these two together in one room? They will non stop argue.." the seventeen-year-old boy stated when he put his backpack under his bed.

Nami smiled. "Don´t worry. They may argue a lot but they are brothers after all. They like each other but they would never admit it"

"Nehehe! They´re funny!" Luffy giggled and laid down. "This bed is really comfortable!"

Nami also laid down and frowned. "This bed is everything but comfortable! It doesn´t really have a mattress.."

"Yeah, but it has a very comfortable pillow!"

"If you think so..I guess your bed is the better one.." The eighteen-year-old girl sighed and turned around. "Good night."

"G´night"

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The next day was as cloudy as the day before. After they paid for the two rooms they went through the city searching for a shop where they could buy clothes, proviant and things they needed for the trip.

When they had everything, they went to a pub to eat and drink something.

Chopper and the other dogs they bought stayed outside besides the three dogsleds.

Nami, Zoro, his brother and Luffy sat down and ate warm beans with water. "Ah, I´m so excited!" Luffy giggled. "Don´t hope too much, we probably won´t find anything" Sanji smirked.

"Na, we´ll find gold, I´m sure about this. I´ve got a good feeling" The black-haired boy nodden confident and the other three just rolled their eyes and smiled.

"Hey you little rookies, what are you doing in this soulless dirty city?" A smirking man with black hair shouted. He obviously was drunk. The other people in the pub laughed and turned towards the four friends.

"Yes, what are you pussys doing here? That´s no playground ya know. It is was for real men. You better just go back home to your mothers, you bed-wetter!" Another drunken man yelled and a few laughed at that.

Sanji´s visible eye twitched but he tried to be calm. Nami glared at the drunken men. She also tried not to shout back at the men. Zoro had his eyes closed and just ignored them. It´s not worth the trouble he thought relaxed. Luffy just stared at his plate, a blank expression on his face.

The men began to throw empty bottles at them and laughed loudly.

"I think we should go now, minna." Nami finally spoke in a quiet but mad voice. They paid for their food and quickly went outside. There they could still hear the others laugh and shout at them but they tried to ignore it.

"Bastards.." Sanji murmured and lit his cigarette. "Oh yes! I would like to hit them into their ugly faces and..." the girl began but was cut by a shout.

They turned around and saw a man with a big round nose who kicked a young Indian into the side. The Indian already laid on the ground but the man kept kicking and shouting at him.

"Oi, oi! Quit the shit!" Sanji yelled. He and his friends ran towards him.

The man stopped and glared at the blonde. "Who the fuck are you?! What do you want?!"

"Shut up and let him go!" Luffy said angry. He bent down and helped the Indian to his feet. He had a long nose and curly hair that touched his shoulders.

"You alright?" Nami asked him. "Uh-..yes, thank you.." the boy answered unsurely.

"What the...? Go away! Let this little bastard.." The shouting man with his blue hair was cut off by Zoro who had hit him hard into the face. The man flew backwards and landed with a loud crash into some barrels. He laid there with nosebleed and didn´t move anymore.

"Well done, Zoro!" Nami compliemented. Luffy grinned.

"Nice to meet ya! I´m Luffy! And that is Nami, that´s Zoro and the blonde there is his brother Sanji"

Before the Indian could aswer, Nami asked: : "Well, who was that?"

"That´s a long story..by the way, I´m Ussop."

"Well, let´s go back to the pub and talk there, it´s shitty could here." the blond man suggested and the others, except Nami, nodded quickly. "But there are these drunken jerks..." she pointed towards the old pub.

"I don´t give a damn about them.." Zoro scratched his head.

"They are talking nonsense. Just ignore them." Luffy said as he put his freezing hands into his pockets.

"I already got to know these guys in there, I´m used to them." Usopp shrugged.

"I will kick their sorry asses if they insult us again!" Sanji grumbled madly while he blew his smoke out.

"...fine.." Nami sighed desperately.

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When they sat down they just ignored the other people in the pub who glared at them.

Usopp sighed. "Where should I start..? Well, this man you beat is Buggy. Four years ago, when I was thirteen, my tribe was attacked by white men. They burned down everything and took me and other children with them to a city from white people. My tribe followed them and tried to save us, but the man Zoro beat outside, his name is Buggy, fleed and took me with him. Since then I´ve never seen my tribe or my family again and he´s been using me as a manservant. I couldn´t escape...but now I don´t have to try anymore, you guys saved me, thank you very much!" The seventeen-year-old boy smiled with tears in his eyes.

"Oh my God..that´s a horrible story..I´m so sorry for you.." Nami whispered.

"Such a bastard, this Buggy guy..!" Luffy grumbled angrily and Zoro and Sanji nodded. "Yeah..how could he do that? If I see him ever again, I´ll beat the shit out of him!" the blond cook murmured and lit his cigarette.

"What about you? What are you doing in Alaska? Are you gold diggers?" Usopp asked suspiciously. "Yepp, we are!" the straw hat boy grinned widely and some men who were sitting near them, spit their beer out and they shouted things like: "_You_ are gold diggers?" or " Harharhar! I tell you something: You will all kick the bucket there! Harharhara!"

On Sanji´s forehead sticked out a blood vessel and Nami´s eyes twiched. "Tch. Ignore them. The´re just some dipshits" Zoro said while he was sitting relaxed in his chair.

"I can´t believe I´m saying this, but Zoro´s right for once.." Sanji murmured and tried to calm down and so did Nami. Luffy and Usopp didn´t really listen to the insults.

"And what are you going to do now, Usopp?" Nami turned back to the Indian and waited for an answer.

"Uh..I guess I´ll search for my tribe.. I don´t have any idea where they are.." Usopp put his fingers to his chin.

"Hey Usopp, I´ve got a great idea! Why don´t you come with us? I mean, we can help you search for your tribe and maybe you know a few good places where we might be able to find gold, ne?" Luffy asked hopefully and looked at the surprised Indian.

"You..you would take me with you?"

"Yes, if the others don´t mind, ne minna?" Luffy turned towards his friends and made a very cute face. Sanji said " Sure. Why not?", there was heard an ´awww, you´re really a cutie, Luffy´ from Nami and Zoro shaked his head and smirked.

"I´ve seen a similar scene like this before..." he said and looked towards Luffy. "I don´t mind. Sure you can come with us."

"HOORAY!" Luffy and Usopp shouted happily and hugged each other. "But wait.. isn´t it dangerous there ...? I mean there are wolves and.." Usopp´s eyes widened.

"Ah, but you wanna find your tribe, don´t you? I thought you had more courage..." Nami faked a pout.

There was a short pause.

"Ahahaha...I was just kidding! The great Usopp-sama doesn´t fear ANYTHING!!" He stood there with shaking legs and Luffy´s eyes turned into stars. "REALLY? YOU´RE AWESOME!!"

The others sweatdropped at that. That will be a crazy and stressful journey with these two...

* * *

The next chapter will come as soon as possible, but I don´t have much time next week..

Please review ;D


	5. The adventure begins

**Konnichi wa ;D Sorry it took longer this time..**

**Please enjoy :D**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, Oda-sensei does!**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - The adventure begins**

Luffy, who luckily had enough money, bought Usopp a dogsled, warm clothes, proviant,.. to make it short: everything he needed.

"Arigato, Luffy!" Usopp grinned.

"No problem! Are you ready?? I wanna gohoo" the boy with the scar under his left eye whined while the other put his new clothes on.

After they had bought that stuff the five went back to the hotel so that the Indian could pack and change his clothes. Sanji, his green-haired brother and Nami waited outside.

"Yes, yes, almost. Don´t stress me.."

Suddenly Luffy went silent when he saw the dark marks on Usopp´s arms. Said person put a sweatshirt and a brown jacket on, turned around and smiled proudly.

"Heh, capitan-Usopp-sama is..huh? Luffy? What´s wrong?" his smile fell when he saw the tensed expression on Luffy´s face.

"Did..he often hit you..?" the straw hat boy asked almost in a whisper. He looked down so that his old strawhat covered his eyes. The Indian gulped at the memory.

"...sometimes...when he was bad-tempered..or I didn´t do the right thing.."

There was a short pause and the air in the room tensed. They both didn´t know what to say, Luffy ´cause he was angry and Usopp ´cause he didn´t really have an idea what was wrong with his friend. The strawhat boy clenched his fists hard, so that his skin got white on his hands.

"Luffy?" Usopp said unsurely. He got no answer.

The Indian slowly took a step forwards and gently put a hand on the other boy´s shoulder. But Luffy flinched at the sudden touch and stepped bachwards. The other quickly pulled back his hand.

"L-Luffy? You alright?" Usopp frowned deeper. What the hell was wrong?

"...yes...sorry.." came a short and quiet answer.

Again the room fell deadly silent and none of them dared to move.

Suddenly someone knocked loudly onto the door and both boys flinched at the sudden sound. Sanji burst through the door, opened his mouth to say something, stopped when he saw the other unmoving and silent boys. They stood there and glanced at him.

"Huh? What´s wrong with you two?" Sanji raised his curly brow.

"Ah! Sanji! I´m ready, we can go now!" Usopp didn´t aske the confused cook´s question and acted as if nothing had happened. The blond blinked. " Uh...okay..?" The Indian tried to smile, grabbed his bags and quikly went downstairs, leaving the baffled cook and Luffy alone. Sanji turned to the other black-haired boy.

"What..?" he wanted to ask again but Luffy cut him off.

"What are we waiting for? Usopp´s ready, so we can finally begin our adventure, ne?" With that he left and went to the others outside.

"What the fuck...?" Sanji scratched his head and took a deep breath from his cigarette. But he froze when he heard Nami.

"SANJI! COME ON! MOVE YOUR BUTT!"

The blond went into his ´I-do-everything-what-my-lovely-Nami-swan-tells-me´ modus and danced with hearts in his visible eye downstairs, shrieking something like "HAAAI!!!"

The others stayed behind their dogsleds and waited for the cook who eventually came, dancing his noodle-dance. A man who saw Sanji coming out of the hotel quickly jumped into an empty barrel that stood by the hotel´s door. "Holy shit!!! A crackpot!"

Sanji ignored this and ran towards his lovely Nami who laughed at the other man in the barrel.

The curly eye-browed man jumped behind his dogsled, still a heart in his eye. The two seventeen-years old boys smiled and laughed like nothing had happened. Sanji remembered the strange scene in the hotel room and glanced from the one to the other, wondering what the heck was going on with these two.

´Puberty...?´ he thought. ´No, that was something else...´

"Okay, minna, you ready?" Nami asked and a cheering Luffy, a gulping Usopp, a smirking Zoro and a still confused Sanji anwered.

"Yay! Let´s go!"

"S-sure! I´m _always_ ready..!"

"Heh. What are we waiting for?"

"Yeah, yeah.."

Sanji sighed. He would unravel the mystery later...

* * *

The small group had been traveling for several hours now. The countryside was beatiful. Around them was a big forest and the trees had a lot of snow on them, like the mountains. Although snow reached them to their knees the dogs were able to move very fast. But there were big dark clouds coming from east.

"Uh, guys, I think there is a snow storm coming!" Usopp spoke while he was taking a careful look at the clouds.

The others immediately stopped their dogsleds and followed the Indian´s glance.

"Usopp´s right. I can feel it. We should search for a hideout.." Nami said.

Luffy and the Indian blinked. "You can _feel_ it?" they both asked in unison and the others laughed at that.

"Yes," Zoro explained, " She has something like a sixth sense for weather."

"Exactly. She is the perfect navigator." Sanji grinned and Nami blushed a little.

"Honto ga?? Sugee!*" Luffy awed which made Nami blushing even more.

"Well, whatever, let´s prepare for the snow storm." The orange haired girl meant.

"Yes, a snow storm isn´t funny..we should dig a hole into the snow and hide there until it´s over." Usopp suggested and his friends areed.

"That would be the best thing to do. But we should hurry!" Sanji lit his cigarette and went over towards his dogsled. He opened one of his bags and took out three shovels.

"Don´t we have more of them?" Usopp asked and the cook shook his head. "No, we just took three with us ´cause we our plans didn´t includ you and Luffy. We should have bought some more back in the town...but now it´s too late." With that the blond gave Nami and Zoro two shovels and the three began to dig. The two black haired boys stood there and didn´t know what to do.

"You could calm the dogs, they seem to feel that something is coming." Zoro said and pointed to the uneasy dogs.

"Alright, leave it to us!" Usopp grinned and took Luffy´s arm. "Come on, Luffy!"

The two petted the dogs and tried to calm them a bit. The wind grew faster and it started to snow.

"Come over here, you two! We are ready!" Nami yelled and the boys went towards the girl and her cousins.

"But what about the dogs? And Chopper? We can´t leave them here!" the strawhat boy stated worried and Nami sighed.

"Luffy, they are able to hide themselves, don´t worry. They are used to snow storms and coldness."

"Chopper isn´t!" Luffy pouted.

"Where does he come from?" Nami raised a brow and looked at Luffy whose pout changed into a blank expression.

"I got him from my brother.." he answered.

"From your brother?" Sanji asked. "Where is he?" But he didn´t get an answer.

Chopper wagged his tail when he saw Luffy walking towards him. The boy gently petted him and loosed the bands from Chopper, took him into his arms and quickly walked back to his friends.

"He died. Chopper stays with us ´til the storm is over, ´kay?" There was a sad tone behind Luffy´s voice. He wanted to hide it, but the others noticed it.

The dark clouds were directly above them and the wind got cooler.

"He..died? When? Why?" Usopp was really curious and didn´t see the sadness in Luffy´s eyes. But the other three did. And they reminded quiet. Zoro whacked the still asking Indian onto his head to make him shut up which worked.

"It..happened some years ago..he was killed..." The boy with his beloved dog in his arms gulped.

Zoro, Sanji and Nami glared at the poor Indian who regreted his words and quickly apologiezed with a bow.

"It´s okay, you didn´t know. Now let´s hide, the wind is really cool..I´m freezing!" The seventeen year old boy grinned and jumped into the hole to the others who didn´t dare to ask anything to not hurt Luffy more. It was obvious to the others that this boy hided something, a dark secret...

Chopper squieked a bit as the snow storm began. The wind blowed and made a high and scary sound. The five sat there, closely towards the other. It was very cold and they shivered.

"I-it´s fu-fucking c-c-cold he-ere.." Sanji bibbered.

"I-I ho-hope, the st-storm is s-s-soon o-over!" Nami answered. Her lips were dark blue and so were the other´s lips. Chattering of teeth was heard from them and they got closer to each other. Chopper whimpered in Luffy´s arms. Said boy hardened his grip around his little dog to stop him from shivering.

"S-s-see, Nami? Ch-Chopper i-is just t-too l-l-little to s-stay a-alone in a s-snow s-s-storm" The straw hat boy smiled a bit while he was looking down at his still shivering dog. Nami smiled at the scene. Luffy stroked the animal with the blue nose gently behind the ear and Chopper relaxed and stopped shivering.

"Y-yes, y-ou a-are right." She merely answered.

"O-oi! M-marimo! you still a-a-alive?" Sanji poked his unmoving brother."Z-Z-Zoro?" no answer.

That caught the other´s attention.

"Z-Zoro! D-don´t s-sleep! You w-w-will die!" Nami whacked him onto the head. Still no answer.

"Th-that´s not funny!" Nami shrieked. But The green haired man reminded silent. He sat there, between Luffy and Sanji, and didn´t move. He looked like he was sleeping...but sleeping in this situation was perilous and the other nakama knew that..

"Shit! That´s not g-good!" Sanji cursed.

"AAAh! Zoro, don´t die!!" Usopp squeaked like a little girl which made Nami hit him. "Don´t s-say things l-like that, BAKA!!" With that she showed him , how a _real_ girl shreaked.

"Ne, Zoro, wake up!" Luffy nudged him in the side. A small grumble was heard and the other friends sighed relieved when Zoro finally opened his eyes. He blinked a bit confused when he saw that his nakama surrounded him with worrying faces.

"You a-are a-a-alive!" Usopp hugged the irritated man.

"Huh? W-What are y-you talking a-about? Of course I am! As if a l-little snow st-storm like that could k-kill me! I-I w-was s-sleeping p-peacefully. D-d-don´t w-w-wake me u-up!" The Indian let go of him and two seconds later the poor green haired man laid on the ground again, but this time he didn´t sleep...Nami raised her burning fist.

"Don´t you _dare_ and shock us like that ever again!" the others in the little hole widened their eyes and slipped together into the corner. From there they looked scared towards the pissed girl who turned to them.

"D-don´t k-kill me! T-t-take the c-cook and th-the strawhat boy! I´m t-t-too y-young t-to d-die!" The Indian begged and Sanji and Luffy shouted something like "OI!!" or "YOU COWARD" to him.

"QUIT THE SHIT!!" Nami yelled and seconds later it was deadly silent. But the silence didn´t keep long, suddenly a wolf was heard in the distance. Nami´s angry face immediately fell and she paled at the whine. The girl squeaked, all anger and worry forgotten, and quickly jumped towards the others. Zoro smirked at that and bit his lip so that he wouldn´t say something like ´wussy´ to Nami...

"Th-there a-are wolves! Th-they a-are g-g-going to eat u-u-us!" Usopp shivered even more.

"I-I don´t th-think s-so, we a-are safe h-here." Zoro assured the Indian.

The wolves kept on whining and the small group in the snow hole kept on shivering. Sanji would say it was ´fucking´ cold and he would´ve been right. In fact, it had about 2° fahrenheit..plus, they weren´t used to this cold temperature.

"I-I think i-it´s g-g-getting dark.." Sanji bibbered. "Hmhm.." was the quiet answer. The lids of their eyes began to get very heavy....

but a sudden and _really_ loud ´GRUMBLE´ made them all wide awake, even the little dog Chopper who had been sleeping peacefully on Luffy´s lap.

"OH MY GOSH! Wh-what w-w-was that?? A b-bear??" The eighteen year old girl had a tight grip on Sanji´s arm who was very pleased by this action and forgot about the scary sound.

There was a short pause and than the sound was heard again. But it didn´t come from outside...

They all turned towards Luffy who sat there, blushing a little bit.

"What? I´m hungry..." he shrugged and began to pet his dog who enjoyed it.

The Indian, Zoro and his brother and Nami fell towards the ground. ´Just great...´ they thought.

A bit later the group sat side by side, wondering when the snow storm would finally end. It was already dark outside, but the wind was still a strong breeze and the snow still fell, the wolves still whined and it was getting louder. Chopper sensed this and grumbled a bit into Luffy´s lap.

"It..is s-so cold..." Nami mumbled and her cousins and her two friends agreed silently. And nights the temperature would get colder, they knew that...

Now, the five friends had just one thought:

_Don´t sleep, don´t sleep, don´t sleep...or you will never wake up again...._

* * *

**Okay, next chapter done! Here is a little translation for the japanese words:**

*** honto ga? = really?**

**Sugee = awesome**

**baka = moron, jerk**

**nakama = friend (s)**

**Please review ;D**

**Ja ne :D**


	6. Freezing Hell

**Hello^^ I forgot to tell you: Robin and Brooke are going to appear in later chapters. **

**Here is the 6th, I´m sorry, it took me longer this time!**

**Please enjoy ;D**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece (I wish I would..^^), Oda-sensei does!**

**Chapter 6 - Freezing Hell**

White.

Wherever you looked. Just white. The trees, all withe. The mountains, all withe.

..But wait, there was something which wasn´t white, no, not something. There where a few huskys in the snow, cuddling against each other to be protected from the cold.

Right aside them where five snowbounded dogsleds you almost couldn´t see.

It still snowed hard, but not as hard as the day before.

The five friends laid in their snow hole, not moving. Even Chopper laid unmoving in Luffys lap, no sign of life. The eyes closed. Their lips were dark nakama didn´t even bibber anymore, or at least snore. To make it short: They all looked like they had seen better days...

...

...

...

...

WHACK!

...

...

...

...

..."OUCH!! MY NOSE!!"

"WHOA, WHOA!! WHAT´S GOING ON??!!"

"THE HEL- URGLLMAFN!!"

"Grmmurmurgrumblemutter"

"DON´T SCREAM AROUND WHEN I´M SLEEPING, DAMN IT!!!"

...and a loud

"WOOOUWWW!!"

followed.

And now the chaos was perfect. Nami was busy with whacking them all on their head (expect Chopper, who was happy about that), Sanji´s face turned blue because of the lack of oxygen and he laid on the ground, coughing, Zoro had his eyes still closed, but he seemed to explode every moment ´cause of the noise, Luffy hold his bleeding nose (he crashed onto the ground two seconds ago), Chopper was very nervous, ran in circles and whined loudly, and the Indian sat there in the edge, staring wide-eyed at his nakama who, so it seemed, went COMPLETE insane.

Usopp hadn´t enough courage to stop them from berserking in their little hole wich seemed to break in every second.

"OUCH!! NAMI, STOP IT!" Luffy screamed with tears in his eyes, holding the area where he was hit.

"I WAS SLEEPING PEACEFULLY UNTIL YOU DECIDED TO CRASH ONTO THE GROUND WAKING UP EVERYONE !!" the furious girl yelled as loud as she could much to the green-haired man´s dislike. His brow twitched at the loud sound called Nami and he couldn´t take it anymore.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH BITCH!"

Silence.

Just the choking and coughing from Sanji was heard.

Now the others first looked at the mad and fully awake Zoro, then to the blond man on the ground, then back to Zoro. Big questionmarks appeared over their heads.

Wasn´t Sanji going to say _anything_ to protect Nami from the green-haired man...? they wondered.

Chopper stopped running and looked curious at the poor cook. Even Zoro frowned at his brother. He scuttled over to the blond and strongly hit him onto his back which caused Sanji to cough even more. He had a tight grip around his throat and eventually the nineteen-year-old spit out something.

The ´thing´ flew across the little hole towards Usopp who quickly jumped aside.

"What...?" Nami started and took a suspicious look at the ´thing´ which laid on the ground asides the Indian. Now the others came to take a look at the object as well.

...

...

...

Then the eighteen-year-old girl started to laugh and Luffy, Zoro and Usopp joined.

"You almost suffocated by your own frozen _cigarette_?" she asked as she turned to an almost fully recovered and very ashamed Sanji.

The blond cook showed a nice shade of red which caused the others to laugh even more.

He harrumphed and folded his arms. Then Sanji suddenly remembered something and the put his index finger towards his brother who sat besides the blond.

"YOU! How dare you and insult my beautiful Nami-swan like that?? You shitty moron!"

Before Zoro could defend himself, the mentioned girl began to speak in a slow tone, a dark aura around her.

"Ne, you guys. If you start arguing right now, I´m going to let the huskys go where ever they wanna go, kick your sorry asses in front of the dogsleds and let you drag us the whole way to a fitting area where we can find gold. G-o-t i-t?" she smirked evily, sending small shivers down the other´s spine.

"Ahehehe...wakatta, wakatta..( 1.) " the two brothers nervously scratched the back of their heads, cracking a forced smile. Luffy and Usopp just gulped, knowing that the best thing to do in such a situation would be to shut up.

"Alright." Nami sighed, "brr, it´s still so cold. I wonder how we managed to survive after we dozed off...normally we all should be frozen to death...and it´s really stiflning here, a miracle that we didn´t suffocate... we all could be dead right now..." She rubbed her arms.

"Hai, we are very lucky that we survived." Usopp said in a calm tone. But then he noticed what Nami had said.

"D-DEAD??" the Indian widened his eyes.

Luffy just looked a bit dumbfounded at the girl.

"Yeah, that´s right..that´s lucky for us." Zoro shrugged.

"..but maybe we dozed off just a few minutes before _someone_ woke all of us up, that would explain why we didn´t froze to death..." she glanced towards Luffy. Said boy didn´t really listen to her, he petted his beloved little dog. Nami sighed.

"I can´t remember much what happened before.." she mumbled. The others agreed. Neither did they remember much of the time before they fell asleep. They probably where just half-awaken for the last fourteen hours.

"However, we survived, that´s all that counts." The twenty-year-old named Zoro stated.

"Anyway, what about the snow storm? Is it over?" Sanji asked, trying to lit one of his frozen cigarettes but failed, much to Zoro´s liking.

"No, I don´t think so. I can still hear the wind blowing." The India said, carefully listening to the wind outside.

Sanji kicked through the snow which had blocked their exit and sticked his head out.

"And?" Usopp asked.

The blond quickly informed his friends about the weather situation. It disappointed the four to hear the bad news.

"Shit!" Nami cursed. "It is so cold! I finally want to go out and move! Or take another of my warm sweatshirts! I´m freezing..."

"Please Nami-swan, calm down. I´m sure the storm will stop soon." the cook assured his precious ´angel´ but Nami was still pissed. "And, I am here to warm you, my darling! We could cuddle against each other and.." the cook wouldn´t stop with his daydreams which made Nami getting more pissed off.

"Aaaaah, I´m so damn hungry...! MEAT!!"

"Oi, Luffy, don´t shout around! We are hungry too!" The Indian grumbled at the straw hat boy who sat there, holding his grumbling stomach, whining about food.

A bit later Nami tried to start a conversation with the others, wanting to kill that damn silence in the cold hole.

"Say, Usopp, do you have a sister or a brother?" It was just a simple and normal question, but who would have known that it released something...

The Indian looked at Nami. " Huh, me? Oh no, I haven´t.I never had, I only have my father, Yasopp... well, if he´s still alive..he might be already killed by gold diggers or so..." he trailed off. The girl wanted to kick herself for asking that. She didn´t want to get Usopp sad...!

"I´m sorry for you, Usopp...it must be horrible for you.." Sanji and Zoro stayed silent. Usopp must think that every gold digger was a killer...how couldn´t he, after what had happened to him?

But then, Luffy spoke.

"Don´t worry, Usopp, he surely is still alive!" he grinned at his friend who looked quite surprised. The rest of them was looking the strawhat boy now.

"What? How can you tell?"

"I just know it. I mean, your father is an Indian, right? So some stupid gold diggers won´t be able to hurt him, trust me!" Luffy thumbed onto the Indian´s shoulder.

"Luffy..? You are a gold digger, forgotten? Uh, yes, you are right with what you said, but...you insulted yourself with that.." Sanji grimaced a bit irritated.

"Yes, but I know, that an Indian is really careful and clever. Something wrong with that?" The straw hat boy asked in a serious tone that surprised the others. Usopp blushed a bit at Luffy´s compliment and mumbled something like ´the great Usopp-sama taught them how to survive...´ .

"N-no, of course not!" Nami hold up her hands.

"Huh? Do you know any Indians? I mean except of Usopp?" Zoro interrogated suspicious. The black-haired boy´s expression went blank and the oldest of them feared he had asked something wrong. He already knew it wasn´t easy to talk about special things with Luffy. But he was a bit reliefed when he saw a small smile on the boy´s lip.

"...My brother...he was an Indian." was the short answer.

"Eh? ´Was´? He is dead, isn´t he?" Sanji seriously looked at the seventeen-year-old and waited for an answer which didn´t come.

"Come on, Luffy, we can´t help you if you don´t talk to us!" Nami slowly got angry at the boy whose smile was fully gone.

"Exactly, so open your mouth! Tell us: Is he dead? How did he die, when, et cetera, et cetera. Come on! " The blond cook lost his control. He was a bit frustrated that the boy wouldn´t talk to them! Didn´t he trust his nakama?

"Ehh, Sanji, don´t..." but Nami was cut off by the straw hat boy.

"My brother Ace died a long time ago. He was killed by some fucking wannabe gold digger. Is that enough, _Mister_?" Luffy knelt on the ground, fists clenched. He was very pissed off of Sanji who sensed he should have shut his mouth, but now it was a bit too late for realising that..

Nami, Zoro, Usopp and even Chopper madly glared at the uneasy feeling cook. He didn´t mean to be that rude..

"And now let me tell you something: My past is none of your fucking business, comprende?!" Sanji flinched at the unexpected gruffly tone.

"I didn´t..sorry.." he mumbled. Luffy didn´t answer. Zoro glanced at the strawhat boy before he spoke slowly.

"The ero-cook didn´t want to be that rude. He was just curious, and so were we. But you aren´t forced to tell us things like that, ya know. It´s something you tell us if you want to tell us, when you are ready to do so. Then we´ll listen and help you. ´kay?"

His brother, the Indian and Nami were a bit taken aback about that wise speech of Zoro but didn´t say anything. The three looked at Luffy.

He was petting his dog, like always does when he felt uncomfortable or lonely. He closed his eyes and a second later, as he opened them again, his face was as bright as always.

"Thanks, Zoro!" A big grin went from the one ear to the other and he looked like the most happiest boy in the world. Normally the strawhat´s friends should have been glad about Luffy´s smiling face, but still...

It took another two hours ´til the snow storm finally stopped and the sun began to shine again. The five nakama where very hungry (Luffy whined about that he would starve)

and half-frozen. No wonder after almost fourteen hours in that hole...

but it´s over know, and the very first thing they did was to put more warm pullies under their jackets. Then Sanji packed meat, lots of meat, out and begin to prepare a big meal.

The others quickly went searching for some wood for a nice fire to warm them all up and Chopper went with them.

"But please take good care of him! He´s very young, ya know!" Luffy said to Zoro, his cousin and Usopp.

"Yes, yes, don´t worry! We´ll just search for wood, that won´t take too long!" The Indian told his worrying friend who sighed.

"Ah, sorry, you´re right. bye!"

Usopp grinned. Then the three went towards the forest.

The sun was nice and Sanji stopped for a short moment in his movements to enjoy the warm shafts of sunlight. It was a wonderful feeling after last night.

The cook put out a part of the meal they had bought at St. Michael. He hoped something like this won´t happen too often during their journey...plus, he really wanted to see the famous northern lights!

The blond looked over to the black-haired boy who was busy with feeding the hungry dogs with half-frozen meat pieces. They where happy to get a bit attention by Luffy and jumped around the laughing boy. It seems he really likes animals and they like him, Sanji thought when he watched the other. He slightly smiled at the sight.

"Ne, Luffy, " he called and got mentioned boy´s attention, " I must tell you something." With that he walked over to the waiting boy and the happy dogs.

"Look, I´m really sorry for saying those things back at the hole."

"Na, Sanji, kamaimasen (2.)." Luffy shrugged.

"No, I´m not ready yet..it´s not so easy to explain..." Sanji truly didn´t know how to start and the other noticed that. "Ah, you really don´t have to..." Luffy started

but the younger brother from Zoro wouldn´t shut his mouth and tried again.

"When Zoro and me where younger, our sister, Kuina, died. She was just eleven years old...I was thirteen and Zoro was fifteen. It was..it had happened so fast..she just fell down the stairs and never stood up again.." his gaze wandered off into the beautiful landscape which became even more beautiful because of the sunshine and the clear blue sky. The mountains almost glowed ´cause of the sunshine, it was very nice to watch. Everything seemed so peaceful and calm, the complete opposite of yesterday.

"..I´m sorry.." Luffy´s face paled a bit. What could he say to comfort Sanji?

The young man with the curly brow above his right eye spoke again: " It was the hardest time in my life. But it was even harder for Zoro, he felt like it was his fault, but it wasn´t..!" Sanji paused for a few seconds, as if he thought of picking the right words.

" Zoro and Kuina had an argument. When our little sister wanted to go away from him she walked a bit too fast downstairs...and stumbled..Zoro didn´t even have a real chance to say sorry to her.." Sanji gulped when he thought about it.

Luffy looked onto the ground. "Wow...that must´ve been...really hard for him..and for you, too.."

"Yeah, it was..well, all I wanted to say with that was, that we know how it is to loose someone precious..and we can understand your feelings. So you can always come to us with problems." He smiled gently and Luffy smiled back. A sad smile.

There was a short pause before the cook finally turned around.

"Good, then let´s prepare the meal! You said you want meat, right?"

"YES!! MEAT!!"

**1. wakatta = I understand**

**2. kamaimasem = never mind**

**Sooo, the next chapter will appear...soon^^ I honestly don´t know when I have time for it, but it won´t take too long, I promise :D**

**Please review!**

**Ja mata ne :D**


	7. Hell of a brother

**Good morning :D This chapter was finished faster than I thought..I hope it will be more exciting than the last one..**

**Enjoy ;D**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, Oda-sensei does!**

**Chapter 7 - Hell of a brother**

"Wooow, it was absolutely fantastic! I´m so full..!" Luffy patted his stomach.

"Yes, it was really tasty. I enjoyed it..the first meal after fourteen hours!" Usopp said while he was standing on his dogsled.

They had started half an hour or so ago. The weather was still sunny and relative warm, the optimal weather for the trip to the Yukon.

"Nami, how long do we have to drive?" Sanji asked the orange-haired girl who was a bit behind him.

"Hmm..I think it´s not too long. Maybe we´ll reach it tomorrow, it depends on whether the weather is fine." she answered the blond´s cook question.

"Okay"

The five friends saw a few wolves near the forest which ate a dead reindeer so they weren´t interested in Nami and the others. The huskys grumbled at them, but that was everything that happened. The rest of the trip was easy although the snow reached almost their knees. But the dogs were used to it, consequently they were really fast.

In the evening they rested. The nakama were sitting on the fire they lit and warmed themselves up. Sanji was making dinner, meat and, thanks to Nami, a few half-frozen mikan (1).

"They are really yummie with the meat!" Luffy cheered happily. He put the mikan on top of the meat the cook had put over the fire and ate them together.

His friends were eyeing him like he had grown a head bigger.

"What? Something wrong?" He blinked irritated.

"Uh..no, no!" Usopp meant and began to eat his meal, _seperated_..

After that they laid back into their sleeping bags and soon fell asleep. Chopper snuggled himself near Luffy who was still awake watching the seemed to be so far away. He sighed and petted his little dog who was happy about that. But there was someone else who wasn´t sleeping as well.

"It is a beautiful sky, ne?" Nami whispered.

"Yes..it is" Luffy answered, still looking to the sky. "It looks...so much bigger and..nicer than the view you get from a city."

The orange-haired girl smiled at that. "That´s true. In the city there are so many lights..you can nowhere else see so many stars as in nature.."

"And maybe we´ll see a northern light! They are said to be so beautiful! I really wanna see one."

"Me too." Nami yawned deeply. " I´m so tired..let´s get some sleep, we need it."

"Say, Nami, Zoro is always carrying these three swords. I mean, I think it´s pretty cool! But there is this white sword and when I asked him to touch it yesterday, he..well, let´s say, he wasn´t pleased to hear this.."

Nami´s lips formed a small smile. "Don´t take it personally. It is Kuina´s sword and it is really precious to him." she whispered.

"His sister´s sword?" Luffy turned to face Nami who was a bit surprised. "You know who Kuina was?"

"Sanji told me.." the boy looked back to the stars. "I see. So it is his personal treasure, ne?"

"You could say that." The girl yawned again.

"G´night." Luffy murmured.

" Night, Luffy"

The next day was as sunny as the day before. It was the perfect weather for a journey.

The five quickly packed their things and after a short breakfast the nakama started. Nami had informed them that they could reach Yukon today if the weather was as nice as now.

"Woow, it´s getting exciting!" The strawhat boy grinned and Usopp joined. He was driving aside Luffy.

"And maybe there is my family! I can´t wait to meet them again!"

"Come on, don´t fall back! You´ll get lost!" Nami yelled from ahead.

"HAAII!" they answered back and their dogsleds became faster.

And Nami was right: the same day in the evening the small group reached the famous Yukon. It was a big river and it was half frozen. It was winter, the coldest time in Alaska.

"Brr, Sanji, could you lit a fire? It´s cold." The eighteen-year old girl bibbered.

"Sure, Nami-sw-" but the cook was cut off by shots.

Luffy, Nami, Sanji and Usopp flinched. Zoro stopped in his movements and looked around, trying to find the one who had shot.

"Wow, what was that?" The blond asked.

"He is observing us." Zoro merely answered, looking in one direction.

"Huh? Who? Where?" Luffy turned into the direction the green-haired one was looking but the strawhat boy couldn´t see anyone, neither did Usopp.

"Oh-my-god...he is going to kill us for sure!" the scared Indian hid behind Luffy. His legs were shaking.

Chopper, who stood near the strawhat boy, snarled and bared his teeth.

"Wh-who is there..?" Nami was afraid and took two steps back towards the river. There was a short tensed pause. Then there was a deep and dangerous voice heard from behind some bushes.

"I´m asking the questions, little bitch! Who the fuck are you?! Do you wanna steel my claim?!" the strange man asked, still hiding.

Sanji´s visible brow twitched at the word ´bitch´. How could this guy insult his beautiful as a bitch?!

Luffy frowned.

"We don´t want to steel anything! Stop insulting Nami!" he yelled angrily.

"SHUT UP, you rats! How dare you and give me damn orders?!" Now the man took a step forwards so that the five nakama could finally see him. He was a skinny and tall man with black hair. He had two scars above his right brow and was pointing a rifle towards the small group.

"I´m Grizzly, and you are in an area that belongs to me. I´m shooting everybody, every animal, dead that dares to take a step on my ground." He smirked evilly. Now the five friends noticed an empty bottle of whisky in Grizzly´s other hand. He threw it away and laded his rifle.

"Prepare to die." His glance fell on Nami who stood there, unable to move. "Oh, wait, you are sexy..I guess I can use you..but your little friends are useless.."

Now Sanji reacted. That guy said just too much.

"You fucking bastard! Don´t you dare and touch my cousin!" the blond was furious and before one of his friends could react, he jumped forwards and tried to kick into Grizzly´s face.

"SANJI! DON´T!!" Zoro shouted after his brother. He and the other three finally moved after the blond, triying to stop him, but it was already too late. They froze on the half way as a loud ´BANG´ echoed in the river valley. A few birds got roused and quickly flew away. What followed was silence. Just the rush of the river was heard.

Zoro´s eyes widened at the sight before him. Sanji fell to the ground and didn´t move anymore. There was blood. And the strange man, Grizzly, stood there, laughing.

"SANJI!" Nami shireked with tears in her eyes.

"Sanji! Hey!! Say something!!" Luffy was shocked, too. "Asshole! What did you do?!"

Usopp wasn´t able to open his mouth, he could just watch. Chopper barked angrily. The four quickly runned towards the bleeding cook.

"Didn´t I tell you I would shoot you dead?? Stupid brats! You are just too pathetic. Harharhar! Now it´s your turn to die!" Then he pointed his rifle towards Nami and the other three.

"You BASTARD!!" The twenty-years old man shouted in anger and jumped forwards, so fast that even Grizzly couldn´t see him. And before mentioned man could even move a single inch, Zoro had already ripped him into his stomach. Blood spreed, but this time the right one lost it. The man collapsed onto the frozen ground.

The blond cook was surrounded by Luffy, Nami and Usopp.

"Sanji! Oi! You still with us??" Luffy gently poked him and he finally got a quiet answer.

"O-Ouch! I´m okay, don´t worry.." Sanji slowly sat up and leaned against a tree, coughing.

"Ahh, thank godness you are alive..." Nami sighed reliefed. "But you are hurt, let me see your wound" she ordered and leaned to Sanji who lift his jacket and shirt. The girl carefully inspected his stomach.

"I need to tread it. That jerk luckily didn´t shoot your belly, he hit your side. But it´s bleeding a lot. Usopp, give me the dressing material, it´s in my bag onto the dogsled." She ordered and the Indian did, without an answer, what she told him. A few seconds later he was back with it and Nami quickly disinfected Sanji´s wound.

The cook hissed at the touch.

"Sorry, Sanji." Nami apologiezed. Then she gently bandaged her cousin. Luffy watched this.

"Wow, you´re doing a great job with that! Where did you learn that from?" he asked with interest.

"My mother was a doctor. She told me a few things." the eighteen-year-old girl answered.

`Was´? Is she dead? Luffy thought, but he didn´t want to ask.

Chopper was busy with sniffling on the strange man who still laid on the floor.

"D-did you..kill him?" Usopp carefully asked Zoro who cleaned his bloody sword. The oldest of the group was sitting besides the corpse, looking in Sanji´s direction.

"He deserved it." was the merely answer the Indian got. The green-haired-man looked very pissed. After a short awkward silence the long-nosed boy sighed.

"You..think it´s your fault, don´t you?"

Zoro quickly stood up and almost shouted:

"I´m his older brother and I should have protected him! Of course it is my fault, damnit!" the older of those two was facing the shocked Indian. Usopp didn´t except Zoro to burst out all of sudden and took a short step back. Nami, Luffy and even Sanji turned their heads towards the angry swordsman.

"Zoro..." Nami whispered.

"Hey, you moron, what are you talking about?! It is this asshole´s fault!" Sanji said. His brother didn´t move.

"Besides that, I´m old enough to look after myself, I don´t need you to protect me!" The cook shouted now to get his brother´s attention but he immediately regreted it.

First, because he was shot and his wound hurt at the sudden yell. Second, because Zoro suddenly looked with a cold and sad expression towards Sanji who gulped at the dark aura.

"Yes, I can see that." came finally a calm but angry voice. Then his voice grew louder. "Dammnit, Sanji!! You could be death now, and you know that! You all know that, stop looking at me like this, I know that I should have done something...!" He clenched his fists. "I´m a HELL OF A BIG BROTHER!"

"Zoro... please, calm down, we-" but the young woman couldn´t finish her sentence, Zoro turned around and ran away towards the forest.

"ZORO!" Nami and Usopp shrieked in unison but Zoro was already gone.

"This..Idiot!" Sanji cursed and clenched his fists.

"We have to follow him! It´s getting dark and he has a fucking bad a sense of direction!" the eighteen-year old nervously stood up and looked in the direction where her cousin was gone to.

"And what if there are more guys like Grizzly?? They´ll kill him!" Usopp gasped when he thought about it.

"Chopper and I will go find him." Luffy stood up and grabbed the black bandana Zoro had left on his dogsled and gave it to his dog to sniff on it.

Sanji, Nami and the Indian were silent for a few seconds. "Luffy, that idea isn´t that bad although it´s coming from you..." Sanji was surprised. He and the other two had known the strawhat boy long enough to know that he isn´t the brightest, so they were really taken aback by that flash of genius of Luffy´s.

Said person pouted at that and Nami fell into her ´aww, Luffy-sure-is-a-cutie´ modus which made Sanji jealous and Usopp sighing.

"Hey guys, this is serious. We must find him fast!" the Indian remembered his friends.

Nami blinked and came back to reality. "Oh shit! Usopp´s right! Okay, Luffy and Chopper go searching for Zoro and we should prepare for the night. Besides that, you need a rest Sanji!"

Said person grinned at the idea of being with Nami almost alone at night. "Gnehehe, everything you say, Nami-swan!"

The girl murmured something about ´idiot´ and turned to Luffy.

"Okay, then you know what to do! And be careful! You should take a gun with you." With that she went to her dogsled and took a small but dangerous gun out of her bag and handed it to the seventeen-year old. "You should hurry, okay?"

"Thanks, Nami, I´ll be careful, don´t worry!" Luffy smiled and followed Chopper who had an idea where Zoro went to. "Let´s go, Chopper!"

And slowly the black-haired boy and his dog disappeared into the dark forest.

"I hope they´ll be save..." the Indian worried. The other two agreed silently.

**Ahh, sorry to leave it with that! I´ll hurry to update soon! ;D And I hope the five aren´t too out of character..**

**If you have any questions, ideas or something else, then tell me :D**

**Ja mata ne **


	8. A horrible discovery

**Thanks a lot for the review! I´ll try and put small LuNa moments in but I´m pretty bad at writing romantic scenes.. and I guess in one scene you could see it as ZoLu but there are no pairings in this story, just friendship.**

**Please Enjoy :D**

**Chapter 8 - A horrible discovery**

"Zoro! Zooorooo! Where are you??" Luffy shouted into the dark forest. He could hardly see the next two meters. "Zoooroooo!!!"

Sadly he got no answer, just the scary sound which was caused by the cold wind.

It was almost dark and it started to snow a bit. Luffy and Chopper walked, walked and walked. Now and then they yelled Zoro´s name, unsuccessfully.

"Where are you, Zoro...?" The seventeen-year-old paused. His little dog sniffled around but with the snow and wind it was very difficult,... no, it was _impossible_ for him to smell the missed swordsman. Luffy glanced at the little blue-nosed one and noticed he didn´t know which direction to go. So...

BING BING BING! Jackpot!

...they were lost... 

" N-Nami, c-could you hurry w-with the fire? It´s pretty c-cold, ya know." Usopp rubbed his nose, it was nice dark red and half-frozen.

"Yes, yes, I´m doing my best, but the wind doesn´t make it easy!" The orange-haired girl muttered.

They had found a small hole near the river. Sanji was sleeping peacefully in the edge of it, dreaming of his beautiful Nami-swan. Said person, who had no idea about that, was sitting near the entrance, desperately trying to lit a small fire. She had a match in her hand, but it just didn´t want to get lit. The eighteen-year old lost her patience.

"FUCK MATCHES! WHY WON´T THEY WORK?? I´M FREEZING AND I´M HUNGRY, DAMN IT ALL!" She yelled furiously and threw the poor match into the dirt, stamping on it.

The Indian, who had been sitting besides the cook, flinched at the outburst caused by Nami. He quickly turned around.

"Shhh, you will wake up Sanji!" He went to the girl. She stopped in her actions and glared dangerously at the Indian who gulped at these eyes of hers.

Then she looked over to the surprisly still sleeping cook. Nami sighed. "You´re right, he needs his sleep. After all, he was shot.." she paused here, remembering the events of the day, " Oh, crap! Nothing went right today!"

Usopp grabbed two dry stones from the ground and went to the fire place. "Heh, don´t worry, Usopp-sama is in the.. uh...hole!" He grinned proudly and stood there in an awkward pose. His plan worked: Nami giggled at the silly sight.

"Now let´s see what to do with the stubborn fire!" Usopp bent down and knocked the two stones at each other. Nami watched with interest. And finally, the stones spread a few sparks, litting the dry wood.

"Yatta! Nice, Usopp!" the young woman cheered happily. "Ahh, finally, it´s so cold! Let´s roast the meat, I´m starving!"

"Yes, me too!" The Indian drooled at the imagination of food. He probably had seen this gesture on Luffy..

While they were eating, Nami whispered not to wake the exhausted blond. " I wonder where the others are, they are gone for a long time now...and it´s almost dark!" She sighed while she was looking towards the Yukon river. Usopp stopped eating and watched Nami.

"Yeah, you´re right,.. but hey, don´t worry, these two are strong enough to defend themselves, it´s only a matter of time when they´ll returne!" he reassured the girl with a grin, but inwardly he thought exactly the same..

_Back to Luffy & Chopper:_

Luffy turned around and scanned the area, but he couldn´t see anything or anyone.

"Zoro..?" the strawhat boy felt very uneasy in his situation. Again there was the cracking sound heard, nearby the two. Chopper started to back away a bit and hid behind one of Luffy´s legs. Mentioned person stood there, frozen. What if there were more bastards like the guy who shot Sanji..?

The cracking came nearer and nearer, ..Chopper backed away more and started to grumble...the cold wind blew Luffy into the face. He shivered. The bushes around him rustled. Suddenly the strawhat boy felt a hot breathe on his neck... a bear..? He widened his eyes.

"Luffy? What the hell are you doing here??" the ´moron´ asked surprised.

Luffy shrieked and turned around. "YOU! Don´t shock me like that!!" Zoro lifted his hands into a defending position. "Yeah, yeah, sorry"

"Anyways, I was looking for you! Nami and the others are worried. Glad nothing happened to you.." the black haired one sighed. "Let´s go back, I´m starving!"

But when Luffy saw the look in Zoro´s face he stopped grinning.

"You okay?" the younger of the two asked. Zoro snorted.

"What do you think? My stupid brother was shot right before my eyes and I-" He was cut off by Luffy who had slapped him across the face. Zoro stopped and looked quite surprised at the other. The little slap didn´t hurt much, but the gesture was all that mattered in this situation.

Before Zoro could ask what that was for, the other spoke.

"Zoro, don´t say that it was your fault or something like that! None of us could´ve done anything, it had happened all too fast! Besides that, you kicked that moron´s ass, didn´t you!?" Luffy almost yelled at the blinking swordsman. The older was a bit irritated at the younger´s odd behaviour. But he wouldn´t be Zoro if he wasn´t able to stay over something like that instantly.

"I should´ve kicked his ass way earlier!" the green-haired man shouted back. He was getting mad now.

But so was Luffy.

"You JERK! What had happened, had happened and Sanji is still living, isn´t he?!" He panted and looked the other who had shut up at that right into the eyes. "I know what happened to your little sister, but Kuina isn´t Sanji, ya know. Sanji is still here." He said the last part more calm and slowlier.

Zoro snorted hatefully. "You have no idea, so shut your fuckin´ mouth ´bout that!" he grumbled. "Yeah, I don´t have any idea, you´re right. But then tell me about it." the boy murmured. A long silence followed. Chopper whined silently. He had curled himself up near a tree, watching the two arguing. Now it was fully night but the two didn´t mind.

Zoro closed his eyes, remembering at the old memory he hated so much. Then he began to speak in a deep voice.

_Washington, five years before_

_"WHY?? I´m old enough to look after myself!" Kuina yelled at her brother. She was only eleven years old. The green-haired teenager frowned at her. _

_"You know that there are a lot of perverted men around the city! Don´t act like a fool!" _

_"You are NOT my mother! She and dad are at work, that doesn´t mean you have to replace them!" she shrieked. She wanted to go to a friend of hers who lived outside the city but Zoro had said no. So that´s why the two were fighting like that. Sanji (thirteen years old) was in the kitchen, doing what he loved to do: cooking. He heard the two yelling at each other, but he didn´t really wanted to stop them. The best thing to do when these two were fighting was simply waiting. They would cool down sooner or later._

_"Think about it! Mum didn´t allow you to go either! It´s too dangerous!" the fifteen-year old yelled. "You WON´ T GO!"_

_When Kuina heard that, her eye twitched. She was so mad! Why couldn´t Zoro understand that Emily was the first friend she ever had! She didn´t want to disappoint her! But her stupid brother wouldn´t understand that, Kuina was sure about that. She grumbled furiously. _

_"FINE, I´LL STAY! YOU LUCKY NOW, YOU HELL OF A BROTHER?!" she shouted madly. And then, she made a mistake. A mistake that would cost her her life..._

_Kuina turned around and ran down the stairs. Too fast..._

"She stumbled over her own feet and fell down.. with head first. Then she laid there, unmoving. First, I thought she was kidding me..well, I _hoped_ she was! But..when I called her name, she didn´t move. I ran down towards her and she looked at me. With cold, dead eyes...her eyes looked so...blaming at me...! I will never forget these eyes.. That day I swore to myself that I´ll never ever let something like this happen again, but.." there Zoro stopped. He had his eyes still closed and when you took an exact look at him, you could see a single tear streaming down his face.

Luffy was confused. Zoro really told him his sad past! He hadn´t expecting him to do so! What was he supposed to say now..?

"Ne, Zoro...she lied." He said. The twenty-years old man opened his eyes and looked surprised at the younger. Zoro wanted to open his mouth and shout at Luffy who dared to say such things, but the other was faster.

"She lied to you. You are not a hell of a brother, ya know..and I´m sure she didn´t mean what she said. After all, she listened to you, didn´t she? Plus, Kuina was just angry. She knew exactly you didn´t say that to bother her, just to save her from any harming. And you see, because of that, you are a good brother. Because you _care_ about the two."

Zoro had often heard things like that. From his mother, his dad, Nami, even from Sanji. But from none of them it sounded so...honest. It made Zoro feel better. Besides, why the fuck had he told Luffy about his argue with Kuina?? He hadn´t told anyone else about it so clear with so much details...It was strange, but it seemed that the crazy strawhat teenager had something about him that...gives you strength and makes you stand up and smile again.. this boy was something special..and the older was sure he could trust Luffy with his life.

They stood at each other, no one said a word. It was silent, but it was a comfortable silence.

Suddenly, the peaceful scene was destroyed by Chopper. The little dog yowed loudly. Luffy was immediately alarmed and looked around, but he couldn´t see his precious little dog!

"Chopper!! Where are you?! Come here!" Luffy yelled into the darkness. It had stopped to snow minutes before, but they hadn´t noticed.

They waited a few seconds, but his dog didn´t come back. Instead, he barked from near.

"W-we have to find him!! Shit, shit, shit!" The strawhat boy cursed. He then went in the direction where Chopper´s bark had come from. Zoro followed him.

"CHOPPER! CHOPPER; COME HERE!!" Luffy yelled worried. He sighed reliefed when he could recognize the silhouette of his brown husky running towards them.

"Chopper! Where have you been? You know you aren´t allowed to run away!" His owner bent down and petted him gently. The green haired man smirked at that.

"He is really precious to you, isn´t he?" Luffy smiled. "Yes, Chopper´s from my brother." And before Zoro could ask more, Luffy gasped loudly while he was staring at the blue-nosed dog before him. The older followed the strawhat´s glance and widened his eyes when he saw the reason why the other was shocked: Chopper had bloody paws! And there were also plently of blood spreads on his usually brown fur.

"Oh my God! Are you hurt??!" Luffy panicked but Zoro laid a hand onto the boy´s shoulder.

"Calm down, it isn´t his blood. It looks like he found something or somebody over there..." he muttered and made a gesture with his head towards the direction the little innocent dog came from. Luffy immediately shut his mout when he heard that.

"You mean...?" he carefully asked Zoro who merely murmured something like ´let´s go and check this out, otherwise we won´t find out, ne?´ and stepped into the mentioned direction. Luffy froze for a moment. Then he quickly but still gently grabbed his dog and went after the older of the two.

"Ne, Zoro, wait!!" He caught up with his older friend and found himself on a small glade. He looked around.

"Where-" he didn´t finish his sentence ´cause Chopper suddenly jumped out of his arms and ran towards an object near them you almost couldn´t see from where they stood.

"Hey! Chopper, don´t run away again!" Luffy had yelled after the little one, but when he came nearer, he and Zoro could see an half snowbound tent.

"He run behind it" Zoro informed the other. The two nakama could hear Chopper sniffling and barking a little.

"Come back here, what are you doing over there?" The strawhat boy and his green-haired friend followed the young husky behind the tent and the younger one smiled when he saw Chopper sniffling at something.

They bent down to Chopper; Zoro, to take a better look at the `object` , and Luffy, still smiling, to take his dog back into his arms. But then, his smile fell and he backed away from the scary object laying there half snowbounded. The strawhat boy gasped and fell onto his butt. Zoro backed away, too, and his eyes widened.

"H-holy shit!" he sweared, shocked at the sight before him.

"Th-that´s..a **corpse**!" Luffy gulped and paled at what he saw. This..this fat lady! Isn´t that...? both of the two friends had the same thought:

"That´s _ALVIDA_!!" they gasped in unison and looked at each other, very pale now.

And in fact, there, right towards their feet, laid lady Alvida, the one who was driving with them on the same small ship and had stolen Nami´s money...!! But there was a small difference: now she had a bloody stomach and her eyes were wide open, staring at the two with a shocked expression. Her bloody mouth was opened and it looked like she was screaming. A silent scream.

But she will never be able to scream again...who did something brutal and horrible like this...?

**Ahh, I´m so sorry I couldn´t put any moments with Nami and Luffy in, but they will come later, I promise, psyoran!**

**It´s late and I don´t feel so well so I hope this chapter is not too bad : )**

**Anyways, please review!! **

**Sayonara ;D**


	9. Don t make her cry!

**Sorry for the late update, but I had (and will have) lots of tests at school...but luckily the next week is the last before two weeks of vacation! Yay :D**

**And thank you psychoran and Linhae for the wonderful reviews :)) they really made me happy *blushes*^^**

**Please enjoy ;)**

**Chapter 9 - Don´t make her cry!**

"Where are they? Damn, they really should´ve been here for a few hours now!" Nami grumbled as she was looking in the direction her cousin and Luffy went before.

"Yeah, you´re right..Maybe something terrible has happened to them? What if someone like this Grizzly bastard shot them? Or.." Usopp wouldn´t stop babbling pessimistic things which made poor Nami even more nervous.

"USOPP! Would you QUIT that?" she shrieked, shocking the Indian who immediately shut his mouth. "You make me nervous!"

It was dark and snowed a bit outside the cave. The two had been waiting for a long time now, but their friends still weren´t back. The hurt cook didn´t know about the missing two - he had been sleeping peacefully since Luffy went after Zoro.

"S-sorry!" the Indian quickly apologiezed. "But...what should we do? Maybe they are in real trouble.."

The young woman first remainded silent. She knew that was possible, but... After a short pause of thinking she answered calmly but worried.

"We..have to stay here. "

"WHAT? No, you can´t be serious! We have to find them!" Usopp couldn´t believe it! Doesn´t she care about her friends?

"Usopp, calm down! And think about it! I don´t like the idea either, but we have no other choice! We don´t know where they are and it would be way too dangerous to go and search now! Besides, we can´t leave Sanji all on his own while he is sleeping _plus_ hurt! Got it?" She glared at the other.

Usopp sighed after a while. Nami was right. What other choice did they have...? Hopefully, the others would find their way back to them soon!

_**Luffy, Zoro & Chopper:**_

"W-what.." Luffy couldn´t form the right words. It was just too damn scary! He took a better look at the corpse´s wound on the stomack and his eyes widened slowly. It was a big wound. A normal sword could never have caused some injury like this, it had to be a bigger weapon...Luffy gulped and he paled. Luckily it was dark and Zoro was focused at the dead body, or he would´ve seen the white-as-a-sheet face of the other´s. The seventeen-year-old clenched his fists, not liking the idea of himself. That fatal injury had been caused by a hook...

The usual white snow around the corpse was dark crimson, but it slowly got snowbounded. Still there was blood everywhere and it couldn´t be long time ago since Lady Alvida had died. Maybe half a day...consequently the murderer must be still near them...probably watching them...

A loud cracking sound from the bushes around them let Luffy snap out of his dark-minded status. He and Zoro looked around, holding their breaths. Silence.

Zoro slowly stood up and walked towards the cold body. He took a quick look at her and them moved towards her destroyed tent, searching for something special.

Luffy had watched this silently.

"N-ne, Zoro, wh-what are you doing..? We should go back as fast as possible!" Luffy tried to forget what he was thinking about the hook and it´s owner and tried to act as normal as possible. He quickly stood up and, unlike the swordsman, didn´t dare to take another look at the corpse that kept staring at them. The boy gently grabbed his little dog.

Zoro came out of the tent. "Here is Nami´s money, she will be happy to see it again. And now, let´s go, it´s creepy here. " Then he paused, turning to Luffy. " And I´ve got a feeling like we are not alone". He pointed towards the bushes where the crack was heard before and the other nodded in agreement.

"Let´s go."

The two teenager silently went into the direction they had come from, not looking back. The blue-nosed dog in Luffy´s arms grumbled back at the tent, not liking the scent there which caused the black haired boy to frown at his little dog. He gently petted him and soon the grumbling stopped.

Zoro and the younger one silently but quickly made their way back to the others.

After a while the strawhat boy began to speak slowly. "Is that the right way?"

Zoro paused and looked at the other a bit surprised. "We just saw a bloody corpse, not even two minutes ago, the murderer could still be here and you are asking me if that was the right way..?" The other opened his mouth to say something, but then he closed it without saying a word. Luffy didn´t know what to answer at that.

The swordsman sighed. "Well, whatever, I think it´s the right one." He turned around and started walking again. The moon was shining, helping the friends not to run into the next tree. Now the only sound that was heard was the steps from the two nakama.

"Who could´ve done something like this? And _why_? I mean, the money was still there, so...the one who killed her wasn´t a thief." Zoro wondered aloud. Luffy didn´t answer which the other didn´t mind, he was too busy thinking about that.

"Yeah Zoro, it wasn´t a thief. It was a _killer_." Luffy gritted between his teeth. He expressed the word "killer" a little strange which caused the older of the two to wonder if Luffy did know who had done that.

_**Nami, Usopp & Sanji:**_

The orange-haired young woman nervously bit her lip, staring towards the entrance of the cave. Still no sign of the two.

The stars could be seen clearly now and every now and then a shooting star was seen. But the two didn´t pay attention to that. Usopp coughed, it was pretty cold.

"Hey, Nami, I think we should go to sleep, it´s late and we need energy for the trip tomorrow." The Indian bibbered. He slipped into his sleeping bag, bibbering a bit. The fire wasn´t burning anymore ´cause of the lack of dry wood. And walking out of the cave was too dangerous in their situation, they both had agreed to that.

"How can you think of sleeping? Now?" She glared at the other. But then she decided that the Indian was right. Nami laid herself down into her warm sleeping bag, sighing. The other two were gone for severel hours now...

Suddenly the long-nosed teenager sat straight. He looked outside and said nothing. Nami, who had noticed this, took a look at the entrance, too, but found nothing.

"Huh, what´s wrong?" She asked irritated but only got a short and quiet answer.

"Shhh! Listen!" Usopp put his hands to his ears to hear better.

The young woman raised an eyebrow. She wasn´t able to hear _anything_!

But wait, what was that? There was something! Some voices..? And steps! And...a _grumble_..?

"Aaah, I´m hungry like hell!" was said and someone answered something like " You quickly recovered from that shock, eh?" You could practically hear the man smirk as he said that.

"Na, I´m honestly still a bit shocked...but I can´t help but being hungryhyhyyyy!" the one who had spoken first whined loudly.

"Tch. A normal person wouldn´t have appetite after that, but I must say that a small meal would be really nice now." The voices came nearer. Nami´s face brightened and the other dogs who laid in front of the cave entrance started to bark happily.

"Luffy and Zoro are coming back! Finally!" Usopp informed Nami with a big grin. The mentioned girl didn´t response. Her bangs shaded her eyes and all of sudden she didn´t smile anymore. When the two eventually arrived at the entrance, the Indian ignored the eighteen-year old and jumped towards Luffy, Zoro and Chopper.

The little dog was very happy to see the Indian again and greeted him, too. "Oh, Usopp! Nami! There you are! Wh-" a loud ´bump´ cut the strawhat-boy in his sentence. He fell to the cold ground.

"There YOU are! Where the FUCK have you been? Do you have ANY IDEA how worried I was?" Nami was furious and her fist practically burned.

Zoro took a few steps back. "Oi, oi, oi... " he mumbled, sweat-dropping at her silly cousin.

"LUFFY! OH MY GOSH!" Usopp dramatically let himself fall onto the still unmoving laying boy.

That brought the mad girl to explode...

"WHAT THE HELL IS SO FUNNY ABOUT THAT?"

**:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

"WH-WHAT? Holy shit!" Sanji gaped when he heard the full story. The blond cook had been awake since Nami´s little outburst before..

Spoken of that, Usopp and Luffy were sill rubbing the injured areas and whined things like ´Nami´s sooo meaaan...´or ´ that really hurt...´

The other three just ignored them. The eighteen-year old was staring at her money in her hands. On the one hand, she was happy that she had her precious money back and that thief bitch deserved death in her opinion, but one the other hand...someone killed her, maybe even without reason..! It was creepy and she shuddered at the thought of some crazy killer outside there..

"That´s awful..Who could´ve done that? and why?" the man with the curly eye-brow wondered aloud.

"Don´t you think we´ve wondered ´bout that before? We don´t know who it did ..." Zoro suspiciously glanced over to Luffy who, so it seemed, knew something ´bout the killer, ".. and we don´t know why. It is a big mystery and I guess the best thing we can do is sleep over it." He shrugged.

"Hm, guess you´re right. " his younger brother had to admit.

"But I wanna eat something before sleeping, I´m starving!" Luffy begged with his puppy-look. With this trick he melted the blond cook´s heart.

"Fine, Luffy.." said cook sighed in defeat. Zoro and Nami smirked. The strawhat boy really knew how to get what he wants.

**:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::**

The five nakama had a lot of luck with the weather: When they awoke the sky was still clear and it was sunny. The quickly packed their things and started to continue with their journey. The had agreed to each other a few minutes before the start to travel a few days more along the river to be far away from civilication. A lot of gold diggers came to the Yukon so they wanted to make sure they won´t have to defend their claim every day from them.

Several hours later they made a rest near the river. They had a quick lunch, packed and where ready to start again when suddenly someone strange appeared.

The man had an ugly face and Nami, Zoro and Sanji froze when they saw him.

"Y-YOU? What do you want here?" Sanji asked in a dangerous tone of voice. His older brother put his hands to his swords. Nami shot death glares at him.

"AHARHARHARHAR! Nice to meet ya again! I heard voices and wanted to know who was, here in my area, the next one to die! ARHARHARHARHAR!" The man with the long black hair had an almost inhuman long nose and fat lips. His eyes sent out a dangerous aura, they almost looked like the eyes of a demon.

Luffy and his Indian friend blinked irritated at the others. Do they know this fool?

And as one of the two was about to ask this question, Nami began to speak.

"What the fucking hell do you want, Arlong?" She clenched her fists.

"Huh? Arlong? Who´s that, Nami?" Luffy wanted to know, curious as he was.

Mentioned girl shot an ice glare at the poor teenager who didn´t know what was going on.

Arlong smirked. "You don´t know me? That´s a pity. But fortunately our beautiful Nami here knows me perfectly. We are good old friends, eh, Nami?" He laughed again and Nami bit her lip hard. Her two cousins grumbled like mad dogs.

"Shut your dirty mout!" Nami screamed angrily. "I HATE you! Don´t call me your friend!"

Arlong just stood there and laughed even harder. " Oh, c´mon, you can´t still be angry at me, Nami-_chan_! Yeah, I killed your beloved Bellemere, but that´s so long time ago! And you should be happy I killed her, she never had enough money to you anything, ne?" At that, small tears began to roll down Nami´s cheeks. "You..!" she sobbed.

"You BASTARD! FUCK YOU!" Sanji yelled at him, but it didn´t affect the ugly man. His brother prepared to kick Arlong´s fucking ass..

Luffy looked down so that his strawhat´s shadow fell onto his eyes. The teenager slowly went over to Nami and put his precious strawhat onto hear head. Nami stopped crying and looked irritated at her friend. She remembered one thing Luffy had said before clearly:

_Little Flashback:_

_"Hey Luffy, why are you wearing a strawhat? It´s cold!" The orange-haired girl asked curious._

_The other smiled at her. "It´s from someone I loved very much, Shanks. He once gave it to me, it was his beloved treasure, and now it´s my precious treasure. It always reminds me on Shanks, so I´ll keep it safe and won´t let anyone touch it."_

_End little Flashback_

"L-Luffy..." she sobbed and wanted to hug him for that little but nice gesture.

Mentioned teenager stepped forward and...

Nami´s eyes widened at what she saw and even Zoro and Sanji were shocked about it. Usopp´s jaw hit the snow underneath his feet and Chopper who stood besides the Indian grumbled angrily.

BAM! Arlong´s ugly face had gotten to meet Luffy´s strong fist. He flew a couple of feet away into the snow. "L-Luffy...?" Nami covered her mouth with her hands. She couldn´t believe what she saw!

Sanji and Zoro smirked. "Nice job, Luffy!"

"DON´T YOU DARE AND MAKE MY NAKAMA CRY, BASTARD!" he shouted in anger, surprised everyone and made the orange-haired girl smile a bit at him.

_Thank you, Luffy...._

**Again, a chapter done *dances* :D**

**Well, I hope it won´t take me too long to write the next chapter!**

**Please review ;D**

**ja ne =)**


	10. Now it s getting serious

**Aah, I´m SO SORRY that I didn´t update for more than a week! But last week was very exciting ´cause I had a **

**And I forgot: I didn´t know the English names for Okta and Schwarzgurt, sorry! Schwarzgurt is Kuroobi and Okta is Hachi. But luckily I figured the name for the to out! I apologize for the German name´s in the last chapter and that I don´t know the English name for Kiss (the one Usopp fights)! **

**And in this story Nami´s last name is Mikan.**

**Anyways, Please enjoy ;D**

**Chaper 10 - It´s getting serious**

Everyone gulped at the dangerous aura Luffy sent out. This teenager was very serious.

After a short and tensed pause another man was heard.

"H-HEEY! How dare you and hit our boss, y-you jerk!" Hachi appeared out of nowhere and ran towards his boss who slowly sat back up and rubbed his bleeding nose.

"What do you want, strawhat-baby? That´s none of your business!" Arlong had a dark aura around him, too. Hachi stepped back.

"Do you wanna fight that baka, boss?" the man called Hachi had a strange lip just like his boss and a pink like skin. He had round eyes and grey hair.

Arlong stood up. "Oi, come out! You have to help me with the scum here!" He shouted and soon two other men came out of the forest. "What is it, boss?"

"Kiss, -" their boss pointed to Sanji, Zoro and Usopp, "take out these morons, I´ll take the straw-baby here! They are causing trouble"

His two men nodded and stepped towards the others who prepared to fight. Usopp, being a coward, hid behind Nami. Mentioned girl took out a long solid stick from under her jacket, ready to fight.

"You won´t lay a single finger on my sweet Nami-swan!" Sanji informed their enemies angrily.

Hachi focused on the green-haired man with the swords and to Zoro´s surprise, pulled two swords out.

"I am the best swords fighter ever! You have no chance!" Hachi stepped forwards and tried to attacked the twenty- years-old. But he wasn´t fast enough, Zoro had quickly pulled his three katana out and dodged the attack. They looked at each other.

"Heh. What a weak attack. And _you_ wanna be the best? Tch." Zoro smirked confident and his opponent grumbled madly at the comment.

"I _am_ the best! You think you could beat me? Show what you´ve got!"

_Usopp:_

Meanwhile, Usopp had run away, Kiss following him. After 200 meters through the forest he paused. Where was this long nose?

Kiss wasn´t able to see the scared Indian hiding behind a tree three meter away from him.

´What should I do..? He´ll kill me! I don´t wanna die!` Usopp bit his lip. He quickly looked around, making sure his enemy wouldn´t see him, and started to run towards another tree. The tall man with the dark blond hair turned his head to Usopp´s unfortune.

"Got you!" he shouted and sprinted forwards. Usopp froze in his movement and widened his eyes when the other kicked him hard into the stomach. The Indian flew a few meters away and landed into the snow. Kiss laughed at that sight and quickly stepped to him.

"Weakling. You don´t have a chance against me." he smirked and hit the still on the ground laying Indian into the face which made a cracking sound. Usopp whined and didn´t stand up. He hold his hurting nose which was bleeding a lot. The snow around him began to turn dark crimson.

Kiss laughed again and began to speak in an ironic tone.

"Ooh, poor, poor boy! Is your nose bleeding? I´m _so_ sorry." He spit into the snow. " You hadn´t a chance from the beginning. Oh, wait, that was just two seconds ago, ne?" Again he laughed dirty causing Usopp to remember at his `master´, Buggy. He had sometimes done similiar things to him. Laughing at him ´cause he was weak. Maybe even ´cause he was an Indian, a little useless slave.

Kiss pulled Usopp out of his awful memories by hitting him twice into the face. Blood splattered through the air.

_Sanji:_

Kuroobi kicked hard into the blond cook´s face so that mentioned one flew against a tree. Sanji didn´t have time to stand up and defend himself, the other man through him over his shoulder, causing the cook to moan in pain.

"What a pussy you are. I´m disappointed." Kuroobi hauled off and hit Sanji into the face. Said one had to spit blood.

´Damn it all! M-my..´ the other man hit him again, ´ ...f-fucking wound!´

_Zoro:_

"DIE!" Hachi made a quick move forwards and stabbed Zoro right into the stomach. Well, at least so he thought it would happen but the green-haired man was too fast for him and drawed aside. Then Zoro cut with a quick move Hachi´s face and left a small wound. Hachi´s eyes widened and he touched it.

"Y-you bastard! How could you? I´ll slice you in pieces!" He stepped forward, wanting to stab this Roronoa to death but again the other didn´t play along with Hachi´s revenge plans. Zoro drew his swords and...

"TATSUMAKI!"

...sent the gray-haired man flying. Hachi landed hard onto a rock near them, leaving a blood spot on it. He didn´t move anymore.

"And _you_ wanna be the best? Ha ha ha." Zoro smirked, proud of himself. Suddenly he heard a sound that made his smirk fell. He turned around..

_Luffy & Nami:_

"Now, prepare to die, weakling!" Arlong went into a fight position.

Nami stood near Luffy, staring at the ugly man before them. She looked so hatefull at him that every normal human would have gulped and begged for live but Arlong wasn´t normal human. He smirked at her, making her turning away in disgust. She remembered that face exactly.

"I think you deserve to know what I did to your little Nami-chan befor you die, straw-baby." The dirty man stated and began to tell the strawhat everything. Neither Luffy nor Nami could stop him, he spoke without hesitation.

_**Washington, 8 years before:**_

_The weather was warm and sunny. A beautiful day in May in a nice garden with a lot of orange trees. Not far away from them was a small house._

_"Ne, Bellemere-san, our orange crop will be great this year!" Nami hold a small orange in her right hand and pointed to it with the other hand. Bellemere, her mother, giggled. _

_She puffed the smoke from her cigarette out._

_Nojiko, Nami´s two years older sister and her father, Genzo, were in the city to buy food._

_"Yes, Nami, it will be." She smiled. "But..don´t change the subject! You´ve stolen again, didn´t you? Tell me the truth! Why didn´t you ask me to buy it?" Now her smile was replaced by a pissed-of-expression. Little Nami gulped. The ten-year-old girl was really good at lying, but if there was one person she couldn´t lie to, then it was Bellmere. Her mother could see through her daughter like through glass. _

_"Uh..y-yes..I.." she stuttered. _

_Bellmere was getting impatiently. "Yes? Go on! I´m waiting!"_

_Her daughter sighed. " I didn´t want to bother you..I know that we need the money for more important things like food or clothes! But I also wanted the book...I´m sorry for being so selfish!" she bowed her head, ashamed._

_Bellemere smiled and petted her daughter´s head. " Don´t worry, it´s okay. Just ask me next time when you want something, all right?" _

_Nami lifted her head and looked her mother straight into the grey eyes." Thank you, oka-san (1)!" The woman took a closer look at the stolen object. _

_"A book about weather*?"_

_Nami giggled." Yes, I guess I was bitten by the bug...hehe! And someday when I´m older, I will become a great scientist and explore the weather! I wanna be an expert of it!"_

_"Wow, that´s interesting!" Bellemere was very proud of her daughter. She was just ten years old and had such a great dream. "Don´t let anyone stop you, okay? You should follow through with it!" _

_"Sure!" Nami smiled from ear to ear. But her face changed quickly into a shocked one when they heard a gunshot not far away._

_Bellemere hurried and quickly grabbed her ten-years-old child and stood bravely in front of her to defend the little one. Suddenly a couple of shapes appeared in front of them in their garden. They looked all worn out and like they hadn´t taken a shower in a few weeks. Bellemere and Nami also noticed the guns in their hands which were aimed at them._

_"Hey, you two dollies! Don´t be afraid of us! Harharhar!" A tall man with a long nose and black hair shouted with a voice that sounded like it hadn´t been used for a long time. Raspy and dirty._

_Bellemere and her daughter stepped back. The woman didn´t like the situation. _

_"What do you want? Back off!" she grumbled dangerously. Nami clinched on her mother´s trousers, scared of the ugly men in their garden. "M-mom..."_

_"Aww, don´t be like that, __**woman**__!" Arlong underlined the word ´woman´ in a snidely tone. Bellemere knew: This guy sure didn´t like the ´weak´ creatures called woman. It was getting more dangerously for the two..._

_"Who are you and what the hell do you want?" she repeated her question. Arlong grinned at her. "I want your fuckin´ money, bitch!" _

Meanwhile, in front of the Mikan family´s house:

_"Oh my god! What happened here?" Gonza widened his eyes as he saw the dead body of a woman lying in front of the fence of their garden. The poor woman had a hole in her forehead which bleed a lot. She still had her eyes open and stared at the clear sky above them. _

_Nojiko wasn´t able to say anything. The twelve-year-old girl stared at the corpse to her feet. Her father quickly reacted and lifted his little daughter so that she wouldn´t have to see that horrible kind of thing before them. He made a big step over the corpse and the crimson liquid around her head and went along the path through their garden. There, five meters before him, he saw something awful: Four strange men holding her wife and her second daughter at gunpoint. _

_Nojiko, who had also seen this, found her voice again and asked with sobs between it:"D-dad, -sob- what´s going on here -sob-?" Genzo gently rubbed her small back._

_"Shhh, don´t worry. Everything is alright" It wasn´t true, but he didn´t know what else to say to calm her._

_"Genzo, be careful!" Bellemere shouted as she saw her husband and her daughter in his arms."They are drunk!" Arlong and the other three men ignored the mother, turned around and laughed._

_"Ooh, what a cute little family!" He smirked. "It´s a pity that I must destroy it if you don´t cooperate and do what I say!" _

_"Wh-who are you!" Genzo stopped as Arlong pointed his gun towards him. "Oops, how unpolitely I am today!" he said._

_"Oh yes, boss! That´s unvorgiveable!" Hachi said ironically. His boss spoke again._

_"I´m Arlong, that´s Hachi, this is Kuroobi and the one over there is Kiss. We are unsuccessfully gold diggers from California (2) and we´re hungry!" _

_"Do you want our money? We can give it to you but stop menacing my wife and my daughter!" Genzo begged. The tall man smirked. Oh, how he loved to be evil. _

_"What if something bad would happen to one of the two?" _

_"W-what?" the father gulped. What does this asshole plan? _

_"Do you wanna play a little game?" Instead of explaining that to the worriyng father and husband the black-haired man turned to his fellows who answered with a ´a game? Yes, boss!´._

_"What are you going to do? Don´t harm them, please!" The father of Nami and Nojiko almost shouted. Nojiko shivered a bit. What is going to happen to my sister and mum? Are they going to kill them...?_

_Arlong and his men seemed to enjoy punishing them and shot without a warning into Bellemere´s left leg. Mentioned person couldn´t even jump aside, it happened too fast._

_"AAH!" She shrieked and fell to her knees, holding her hurt leg that started to bleed. _

_"MUM!" Nami cried behind her and hugged her mother who hugged back. _

_"B-Bastard! If you want our money, then take it! It´s inside in a chest in the right edge! Take it and go!" Genzo yelled, put her daughter down and stepped forwards. A big mistake._

_Hachi took out his two swords and cut the other into the face and stomach so that he fell to the ground. The gras around Genzo got coloured dark red. _

_"GENZO!" Bellemere gasped._

_"DAD! NO!" Nojiko and Nami yelled in unison. _

_"Don´t move or you´ll die, children!" Arlong grumbled loudly and his men pointed their guns towards them. The little girls froze in their movements, staring wide-eyed at the men. _

_"Y-y-you...l-let th-them live! D-don´t lay a f-finger on t-them!" Genzo coughed. Nami and Nojiko cried silently and started to shiver a little bit. _

_"Oh, I won´t lay a finger on them, don´t worry..or will I?" Arlong acted as if he thought about it. "Well, I will let two of these three live, it depends on you. So let me ask you something: Who do you prefer? Your beautiful wife or your cute daughters?"_

_Said daughters gasped at that statement. Bellemere clenched her fists and started to cry silently. Genzo cursed under his breath, unable to make a decision._

_"So? What´s your answer? Who do you choose? Which of them should live, which one should die?" _

_"W-why you! Let them alone! Take ME!" Genzo panted exhausted at the loss of blood and the horrible pain._

_The obviously very drunken Arlong and his three men smirked dirty and didn´t think of putting the guns down. They looked at each other and the other moment they all stood there, laughing. Apparently this kind of ´game´ was very amusing for them.._

_"Heh, that´s against the rules. Choose one, NOW or ALL of them will die!" He shouted suddenly, getting impatiently at the ´scum´ before his feet._

_"SHUT YOUR DIRTY MOUTH!" Bellemere shouted all of sudden to the others surprise. She was standing straight, in front of her two crying daughters, ignoring the pain in her left leg. _

_"You think it´s funny to kill, right? Then kill me! But promise that you don´t dare and touch my family including my husband! Got it!" Bellemere threw dead glares towards the surprised Arlong and his men, deadly serious with that what she sad. _

_"B-Bellemere, __**DON`T**__!" Genzo tried desperately to stand up and stop the escalating situation, but he didn´t have the strengh to do so and fell back to the ground, coughing blood. The ugly drunken man with the inhuman long nose didn´t take notice of the hurt man on the ground. He was completely focused on the brave woman in front of him._

_"What is it now? Do you promise?" She asked without any fear. _

_The a bit taken aback by this Arlong recovered quickly from that little shock and lifted his gun to the mother´s head. "You have my word." He loaded the gun._

_The two sisters behind her bit their lips to stop them from shouting but it burst out of them._

_"MOM!" They cried loudly and hugged their brave mother who immediately hugged back. Soft sobs were heard. "I´m so sorry for stealing, mom! Please don´t do this!" Nami begged her mother. "We love you, mom!" the two sisters cried into Bellemer´s shoulder. Mentioned woman couldn´t hold it and started crying, too. _

_"I love you, too! Keep your tail up, do you hear me? Live for me!" Bellemere shouted the last part. _

_" WE PROMISE!" was their daughter´s answer. Then the woman stood up and wiped her tears away. She faced the gun couragely and smiled suddenly. Nami´s and Nojiko´s eyes widened in horror._

_"NO!" Nami and Nojiko yelled with wide eyes. They wanted to run to their mum but were hold back by Hachi and Kuroobi. Genzo was hold down by Kiss. "BELLEMERE! STOP!" The father shouted desperately getting his wife´s attention. She smiled a beautiful smile that would´ve melted every men´s heart during seconds but Arlong and his men weren´t normal men. Plus, they were very drunken._

_"Genzo, listen to what I have to tell you now. Please don´t be angry at me for doing this, but I can´t watch it anymore. Raise our precious children, be their parents, I can´t help you with that anymore, sorry. Go on with life!" Then she took a deep breath and shouted "...I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU, GENZO, NAMI AND NOJIKO!" And before anyone of the three could do something, a loud BANG echoed through the whole garden. Bellemere fell to the ground, a hole in her head like the dead woman Genzo and Nojiko had found half an hour before. But something was different about Bellemere. She had a proud smile on her lips. Proud of her family._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Nami had sunk to her knees, ignoring the fact that her trousers would get wet from the cold snow, and hugged herself to stop herself from shivering at the horrible memories that rushed through her head. She cried even though the orange-haired girl tried so hard to keep the tears in. But she couldn´t stop it, it was just too much. She hated this memories so much but Nami hated this..individuum in front of her even more. She wished him to die, to go to hell!

Said person couldn´t think of something else than laugh loudly. But then he stopped and carried on.

"Yeah, well then came some fuckin´ policemen and arrested us. The must´ve heard the shots. This Genzo survived the two _little_ cuts from Hachi, but nobody could help Bellemere, hehehe!" He made a short pause, getting a quick look at the teenager in front of him who looked like he was about to explode, much to Arlong´s amusement. Then he continued.

"But I must say, Nami-chan, you came along nicely. How´s your beautiful sister and your dad? Hmm, I think you´ll become my wife after I´ve eliminated this scum and his friends."

Nami bit her lip so hard that it started to bleed and tried not to look into that ugly face of her mother´s murderer. Luffy noticed that and finally exploded.

"YOU ASSHOLE! Why the hell did you tell me that? Nami´s past is none of my business! The reason why I attacked you was ´cause you MADE HER CRY, DAMNIT!" And with that he shot forwards like a flash and kicked the other hard into the gut, causing Arlong to cough up blood.

Nami wiped her tears away and shakily stood up. She couldn´t believe that she was ever able to smile in front of her mother´s murderer, but when she watched Luffy, her savior, it was stunningly easy for her. Yes, she really found something despite her two cousins and Usopp she could trust with her life: Luffy.

Now the ugly man didn´t laugh anymore, he was pissed off to no end. Arlong stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth away.

"You little son of a bitch! Prepare to die!" he put out a gun and pointed it towards the black-haired boy, but mentioned one had expect this and jumped quickly aside so that the shot hit a tree. That pissed Arlong even more off and he shot a few times towards Luffy, trying to send the boy to hell. But sadly for him, luckily for Luffy, he failed every time.

"You will get your ass kicked!" Luffy panted with a smile on his lips. His opponent load his gun new and was almost afraid this was true. But then, an idea came to his mind and he, to Luffy´s horror, aimed the gun at a shocked Nami who couldn´t move.

The seventeen-year-old gasped at that and took a step forwards but Arlong stopped him. "Don´t move, or she is dead!" Luffy froze and didn´t dare to move. He clenched his fists, very angry.

Arlong realized that he had the upper hand now and could control the teenager, which was much to his like. He loved to be evil, did he mention that earlier? How funny!

He smirked at the two.

"Sososo..were is the self confidence gone to so all of sudden? Aren´t you the strongest anymore?" he teased.

"Asshole!" Nami spat. Her hands shivered a little bit. ´Why? Why does he do things like that? How can someone think that´s funny? What´s so funny about that...?´ she thought desperately and new tears streamed off her face. Arlong was a crazy madman...

"Let´s play a game. What do you prefer? Your own life or Nami´s?" The ugly man obviously was drunk again. He laughed dirty.

Luffy looked to the ground so that his bangs shaded his eyes. This made him looking more dangerous and he sent off a dangerous aura which sent small shivers down Arlongs spine and caused him to stop laughing. He took a careful look at the teenager who slowly lifted his head.

"None." he merely said and surprised the other two.

"Huh?"

_Usopp:_

"Heh, what a weakling. That boy was an insult to me!" kiss smirked and turned around. He slowly walked away from his victim which laid in the now more red than white snow, not moving. When he was a few meters away, Usopp finally moved carefully. He sat back up, looking at the back of the walking away form called Kiss.

"Heh, this guy was so easy to trick. Sure, the first hits were real, but the rest was a cheap trick. Hasn´t this guy ever heard of catchup? Such a moron!" He laughed silently and stood up, wiping away the real blood and the catchup. Suddenly he paused in his movements and sobbed a little bit.

"Who´s the moron? He or me..?" He remembered the shocked and sad face of Nami. He remembered how angry Zoro and Sanji were...the Indian remembered how pissed off Luffy was for making one of his nakama cry...how confident Luffy was...and what was he..? A little cheap coward, Buggy was right! He was useless and just a pussy..but he wanted so badly to help Nami and risk his life for her like the others...he wanted to be like Luffy.. so brave and strong..

Usopp clenched his fists and bit his lip. "SHIT! I´M A STRONG WARRIOR, I CAN FIGHT!" he yelled. "I`M NOT A WEAKLING! STOP, YOU!" the indian yelled at his opponent who turned around and glaring at him. Usopp quickly broke an elastic stick from a near tree and drawed a bow with an elastic rope from his bag. He did it so fast that Kiss had no time to stop him and he had to admit that the Indian was very skilled at doing this.

"You should´ve laid there, then you maybe would´ve survived. How stupid can someone be?" Kiss said in an arrogant tone.

Usopp took out an arrow he had made yesterday evening while he had had nothing to do. He had made a few more of them, the were in a quiver on his back.

Kiss laughed. "You wanna shoot me? Oh, I´m so scared. Look at this, that´s how you have to fight." he put out a gun and aimed it at the Indian.

Usopp was truly scared. But he didn´t back away. He stood there like a true warrior.

"Let me show you how a true Indian fights!" He said.

**(1) oka-san = mother**

**(2) the gold rush in California was years before, from 1848 - 1854, Arlong and his men came years too late and didn´t find anything at all. They had become thieves and murderer and when the big gold rush in Alaska started in 1897 they had seen it as a new chance and became again gold digger.**

*** I know originally it´s a book about navigation, but I thought it wouldn´t fit so good with a story that takes part during the gold rush, I guess it´s better if Nami is just really interested in weather, not in navigation. It wouldn´t help them much in Alaska^^**

**Sorry to leave it with that! I´ll update soon, I promise!**

**Please tell me what you think of it :D**


	11. It saved your life

**Hi everyone =) thank you very much for those great reviews, Linhae and Psyoran!**

**My computer had deleted half of one first sentence in the 10th chapter...I wrote ´...cause I...´ and the rest is missing +_+ but here it is for those who wanna know what I did last week^^: I took part on a stage play at our school and I was a werewolf back then^^ it was great fun :)**

**Enjoy :)**

**Chapter 11 - **

Not far away from them:

"Tch, these guys think they could beat us so easily, don´t they? They are pathetic."

"You´re right. Now c´mon, we´re done here, let´s go. There are some people over there, I don´t want to be involved in their stupid little wars."

"They are pathetic, too."

With that, the two men dissappeared without making any noise into the dark forest.

_Sanji:_

"Hahahaha, you´re done now, aren´t you? How funny" Kuroobi laughed, looking down at his victim.

"B-bastard!" the cook spat. His wound was bleeding. ´Fucking shit! M-my wound opened again!´ he thought.

The blond laid in the snow, not knowing what he could do now to defend himself. He looked around, searching for help. Sanji could see how Nami and Luffy were at gunpoint (aaah, my lovely Nami-swaan), Usopp and Zoro were gone (where are these two morons? They are required here, damn!) and that Hachi laid on a rock, probaply dead. He sighed. So he was on his own, great.

_Usopp:_

"What now, aren´t you shooting? I´m waiting." Kiss said, still pointing his loaded gun at the Indian.

Said Indian was pointing his arrow at the other.

Usopp was sweating a lot. Normally he would´ve run for it long time ago, but this time it was something else. He had to prove that he was a brave warrior! And he had to help Nami and his other nakama! He would beat this guy now, no matter what his body says!

His legs were shivering and his opponent could see that.

"Don´t you think that that is just too much for you? I bet ya can´t shoot that arrow at me, huh? Put your toy down, boy, you don´t have a chance!"

Usopp bit his lip. Sweat run down his cheeks. ´Don´t listen to him, don´t listen to him. He is talking nonsense.´ an inner voice talked to him. Usopp agreed. "You´re right! I´m Usopp-sama!"

Then an other voice began to speak. ´But isn´t your opponent right? He has a gun and you an arrow!´

Usopp gulped. This second voice was right! "Shit!"

Voice 1: Don´t listen to that, they are both wrong! You can beat them! Just shoot!

Voice 2: No, don´t listen to the whining of the other voice, Kiss wapon is made of _steel_, yours of _wood_! You are a pathetic, little Indian! You can´t do anything!

Voice 1: Yes he can! "Sure I can" Usopp nodded to the statement of his first inner voice.

Voice 2: No, he can´t! "You´re right!" he agreed to the other.

Voice 1: YES, he can! "On the other hand, I´m a strong fighter!" he smiled proudly.

Voice 2: NO, he can´t! "I´m as good as dead." his eyes widened.

Kiss didn´t understand anything from what the seventeen-year-old was doing. Usopp changed every two seconds his expression from a brave smile to a scared face. One time he stood straight, the other his legs were shaking. And he was...talking to himself? WTF? Was this a new fighting tactic? Kiss wondered and showed a really dumb face. If this was a comic, then now there would appear some big fat question marks about Kiss´s head.

"ENOUGH! NOW GO TO HELL WITH YOUR STUPID TACTIC!" The man shouted and fired. Usopp snapped back to reality and suddenly everything seemed to happen very slowly. Everything seemed like a dream now...he shaked his head.

"I have to win!" he whispered to himself. The bullet flew straight towards him. Usopp bit his lip and shoot as hard as he could. the arrow with the iron top rased through the air, directly towards the bullet.

A loud Bang echoed through the forest.

_Zoro_:

´What was that?´ he wondered and walked into the direction were that...what was that? A whine? Yes, something like that. Well, he walked towards that sound which now was heard again. ´Yepp, definitly a whine.´ Zoro nodded and followed that sound. It lead him through a small part of a forest. Then, after a while, the forest ended and he could see something he didn´t like...

He stepped out of the forest. The sun shined and it was total quiet now.

"Holy shit, what had happened here..?" he murmured. He looked around. Around him were about six dead men. Blood was everywhere. The white snow was coloured dark crimson.

The corpses had arrows in their heads, stomaches, legs, everywhere. A few of them were stabbed to death.

Then, again a whine was heard. Zoro turned his head and saw that there was still one of them alive. More or less.

"Hey, you! Can you hear me? What happened here?" the twenty-year-old asked. The other men gasped for air. He looked horrible: His chest was stabbed, two arrows still stucked, his face was full of blood, and when he opened his mouth to answer Zoro, the green-haired man could see that there were no teeth in the other man´s mouth anymore. Mentioned man spit blood.

"D-don´t k-kill me.." he spoke with a raspy voice.

"No, I don´t want to kill you. Tell me, who did this to you?" Zoro asked again.

"R-run i-if you want t-to live..." the man coughed blood. "I-it was h-horrible...w-we were a-attacked b-b-by Indians...they k-killed us o-one by one..."

"Indians? Why?" Zoro frowned.

"R-run a-away..." The man spoke with the last rest of his little energy. Then the bloody chest didn´t lift anymore.

"Hey! You! Can you hear me? Hey!" but it was useless. This man was on his way to heaven.

Zoro slowly stood up and scratched his head. `I should go back and tell the others..´ he thought and slowly turned around. Then the thought hit him like a flash. ´Wait! The others are still fighting! I´ve to help them!´ with that, he run as fast as he could back to his friends.

_Nami & Luffy:_

"What do you mean by that?" Arlong raised an eyebrow suspiciously at the teen.

Luffy looked Arlong directly into the eyes. The strawhat boy had a death glare which sent shivers down the other man´s spine. He cleared his throat and asked again:

"So? What do you mean?"

Luffy clenched his fists. And suddenly he shot forwards. Nami´s eyes widened. He was fast! 

"I won´t let you kill my nakama!" The black-haired teen striked out, still one meter away from Arlong. Mentioned man gasped at the sudden attack and pointed, natural reflex, the weapon towards Luffy who didn´t stop. Now he was a few centimeters away from him.

"Stop, or I´ll shoot!" Arlong shouted almost in panic and when the other ignored him, Arlong shot. BANG!

Nami gasped. "Luffy!"

_Sanji:_

Kuroobi turned his head towards the direction the bang came from. "What was...ah, Arlong!" he smiled.

Sanji ignored it, he made use of this chance and, despite his pain in his side, quickly stood up and kicked his opponent into the stomach so that the surprised man flew into the snow.

"Heh, heh. Don´t underestimate me!" Sanji lit a new cigarette. "I´m a master in kicking!" He said, pressing one hand onto his bleeding side.

Kuroobi stood up. "Tch, loudmouth. I´ll show you my best karate kicks! Say goodbye!" Then his glance fell onto the cook´s side. "You are hurt, huh? What a pity. For you!" he laughed and went into a fighting position.

The ugly man lifted his leg and kicked into Sanji´s direction. Said one luckily was fast enough to duck. Then he saw his chance and quickly kicked the other man into the face, hard. Sanji winced at the pain that pirced through his side.

Kuroobi spat blood. "You have no chance. Look at you, you are a skinny and hurt boy! Despite that, your friends are as good as dead, look around!"

Sanji raised his right brow and did as he was told. He gulped. "I wonder where they are..?" he murmured and quickly took his eye back on his enemy.

"Tch, don´t think you could awe me with that! They are alive, kicking your comprades´ asses!" he yelled at Kuroobi.

The man smirked. "Did you hear that bang before? Guess what that was." Sanji didn´t answer, he just glared at him. "This was the last thing that straw-boy heard of this world. Heh, heh, heh!" Kuroobi answered the question himself.

Sanji gaped. "Luffy?"

"Yes. And now, your sweet little cousin is going to be our boss´ wife! A pity that you can´t come to their marriage, ´cause you´re going to die now. But I´ll relay Nami your congratulations!" Kuroobi lifted his right leg and kicked with all of his might against the cook. But, to his surprise, he never reached the blond´s head, instead his leg was dodged by Sanji´s leg.

"So...you are feeling good now? Are you proud of yourself? Thinking that you´re the best, the strongest? Let me tell you something: Luffy isn´t dead. He won´t die that easily. AND: AS LONG AS I´M ALIVE, NOBODY WILL TOUCH NAMI WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! GOT THAT?" Now Sanji was pissed off to no end which Kuroobi got to feel now.

The blond with the curly eyebrow hauled off and shouted:

"MOUTON SHOT!" Kuroobi ´tchd´ and was ready to take that kick but he didn´t prepared for such a strong kick that sent him through two trees near them. After that, the man laid unmovable there, bleeding.

"See? I hope you understand now!" Sanji then winced. "Ouch! Shitty wound!" He pressed his hand onto it to stop it from bleeding.

"Where is my lovely Nami-swaan?" He sang.

_Usopp:_

Voice 1: C´mon! Open your eyes!

Voice 2: No! Let them closed!

Voice 1: Open them! And you´ll see that your enemy is destroyed!

Voice 2: No! What if your enemy was stronger and you got shot?

Voice 1: Why you..! Would you shut up now?

Voice 2: Heh. Make me, you jerk!

Voice 1: Bring it on!

Usopp shaked his head. "BOTH OF YOU, SHUTUP! I CAN`T CONCENTRATE IF YOU´RE SHOUTING SO MUCH!" Immediately the two voices were quiet.

"Haah, finally" the Indian murmured and carefully opened his eyes. Then he wished he would´ve let them closed.

Kiss stood in front of him, aiming with his gun at the Indian´s head.

"IIIIIAAAAAAAAAAH!" the scared long nose shouted, crying. He could hear a silent ´See? I told ya to let ´em closed!´ in his head, but this time he ignored it. There was something more important right now.

"You are very lucky, boy. Surprisely, your arrow stopped my bullet. Don´t know how that could´ve happened, but that isn´t important now." He loaded his gun. "It was nice to play with you, but now I have to go. Bye!"

Usopp was so scared that he couldn´t move a single inch. He couldn´t even close his eyes. ´I wanted to be a strong warrior! I wanted to help my nakama! I´m sorry, minna..I dun´ wanna diehiehieee!´ he sobbed.

Suddenly, a shadow jumped from behind onto Kiss´ back, shocking said man to no end. The ´shadow´ bit him hard into the neck causing Kiss to let go of his gun. He tried to throw that ´thing´ away from his neck and screamed. "AAAHRRRG! LET GO OF ME!"

Usopp gasped. "Ch-CHOPPER! I´M SO GLAD!" he cried. Then he gulped. Kiss ungently grabbed the flurry animal and suffocated him without mercy.

The Indian was completely ignored. "You bastard! Don´t hurt him!" he yelled and grabbed his bow and arrow. He aimed at the neck of Kiss, sweating. And before any voice in his head could complain or cheer, he shot. And hit.

Kiss quickly let go of the poor dog that fell to the ground. The man sqeacked and put his hands to his neck. He stared wide-eyed at Usopp. Then his eyes rolled back and he fell dead to the ground. A few minutes of silence followed.

Chopper stood up and run to Usopp, wagging his tail, happy about the victory about that terrible man. Finally the Indian began to move again and carefully took a few steps forward to the corpse.

"I-I did it..! YOSHA!" He lifted his fists into the air, cheering. "HAH! See what you get if lay a finger on Luffy´s dog! And Nami of course!" He put Chopper into his arms and hugged him happily. "Thank you, Chopper! You saved me! Now let´s head back to the others, ne?"

Chopper sqealed as agreeing.

Crack. Usopp turned around. "Wh-who is there?"

_Zoro:_

He blinked. Huh? Isn´t that...?

"IIIAAAH, GO AWAY!" Usopp shouted, making Chopper wondering what the Indian was doing.

"Usopp? Hey, it´s me, Zoro!" the other said, trying to calm the black-haired one a bit.

"Eh? Zoro? What are you doing here?" Usopp at once stopped screaming and looked irritated at the swordsman.

"Long story, I´ll tell you later. At the moment I´m more worried about the others!"

"Right!" Usopp agreed. They ran back together.

_Nami & Luffy:_

"LUFFY" Nami put her hands to her mouth, very shocked of that sight before her.

Luffy fell to his knees, pressing his hand onto his chest were he was shot. Arlong laughed. " Little scum! You are so weak!"

The seventeen-year-old teen clenched his teeth together. Then he smiled.

"Baka. I won´t die that easily." Then he stood up, making Nami gasp and Arlong´s eyes nearly plopping out of his had.

"WHAT? You are supposed to be dead!" he shouted, not able to shoot again.

Luffy didn´t answer, he shot forwards and hit Arlong with all of his might directly into his face. Said man fell onto his back, with a broken nose. Luffy didn´t stop, he hit him over and over again ´til Arlong didn´t move anymore.

"Luffy! What...you..are you alright?" Came Nami´s worriyng voice. The boy stood up and grinned. "Sure"

"Don´t gimme a ´sure´! You were shot!" Nami yelled, running towards him.

"OOOI, YOU ALRIGHT?" Sanji ran to the two, worriyng (mostly about Nami). And before one of the two could even answer, another voice was heard. "Minna, you okayyy?" Usopp shouted. "I´ve beaten one guy by myself!" he said proudly. Zoro rolled with his eyes.

"I´ve heard a shot! What.." before the blond cook could finish his sentence, Nami cut him.

"He was shot by Arlong! Right into the chest! And now he walks around like nothing happened! What are you, a zombie?" she shreaked.

"WHAT?" the others said in unison, staring at the confused Luffy.

"Eeeh, I´m okay! Don´t look at me like that!" He lifted his hands.

"Show me!" Nami said and opened Luffy´s jacket. There was a hole in Luffy´s red vest. "I knew it! You were shot!" The orange-haired-girl stated. "But.." luffy wanted to answer, but was cut off by the others.

"Shut it, let us see your wound Luffy!" Usopp meant. The others nodded.

"Fine." the strawhat boy sighed in defeat.

Nami lifted his vest. The other´s eyes widened.

"What is that?" Nami hold the object around Luffy´s neck. "A necklace?"

And in fact, there was a necklace around the boy´s neck. It was a beautiful dark blue stone. There hung two feathers made of silver on it. The stone had a form like a ring and in the middle of that stone was stuck...the bullet!

His friends didn´t know what to say.

Luffy smiled and looked at it. "It´s from my mother." he explained.

"I-it´s beautiful! And it saved your life.." Nami murmured. Then tears streamed down her face and she suddenly hugged the surprised Luffy.

She whispered into his ear. "I thought you were dead! Don´t shock us like that ever again, you hear me?" she whispered into his ear and sobbed.

"Thank you!"

**I know, it´s illogical that Usopp could stop a bullet with an arrow and that Luffy´s stone around his neck could stop the bullet, but well, doesn´s matter, right? The main thing is, that our five friends beat Arlong and co.! **

**Please review! ;D **

**See you next chapter ;)**


	12. Nayeli and other surprises

**Hello :D Linhae and Psyoran: Thank you very much for your reviews! ;D They make me so happy x )**

**Enjoy ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, Oda-sensei does!**

**Chapter 12 - Nayeli and other surprises**

After they had beaten Arlong and his buddys up, they searched for a quiet place to rest. They finally found one, a small clearing not far away from Yukon River and Nami vetted her cousin Sanji.

The five friends quickly lit a fire (it was getting dark) and Sanji began to cook a meal.

Suddenly, Zoro started to speak.

"Okay, I have something to tell you: Back then, when I finished this Hachi guy, I heard fighting sounds. I hurried and ran towards that direction where I then heard a whine from, telling me that the fight was over but I wasn´t sure about this. When I eventually came there, I saw that there was in fact a fight, but I was too late..the men who fought were already dead."

The others gasped. "WHAT?"

But before they could ask some questions, Zoro continued.

"I could only find one left who was still more or less alive and he told me that they were attacked by...Indians." he sighed and looked at Usopp whose face showed a shocked expression.

"A-are you sure..?" he gulped. The twenty-year old nodded.

"That´s what he told me. Then he also died." he said in a tonless voice.

Nami put her hands to her mouth. "N-no..they are all dead..?" she asked horrofied.

"B-but maybe the Indians had a good reason to attack..?" Usopp tried to defend them. Sanji blew out his smoke, sighing. "Hey, we all know how sleeky those gold diggers can be. Maybe the hurt man was lying."

"I don´t think so. Why should he?" Zoro raised a brow at his younger brother who was a bit pissed that his older brother didn´t support him in assuring Usopp.

"What if they attack us..? We are still near that place, you know.." The only girl in the group shivered at that thought. Usopp and Luffy both shaked their heads at the female´s question.

"No, they aren´t the cruel murderer they are always said to be. It sure isn´t right to kill someone, but they probably had their reasons. They don´t kill just for fun. Plus, if they really wanted to murder us, they would already have done that. Remember what Zoro told us, the other men were also attacked during the day, they wouldn´t have waited til it´s dark to kill us." Luffy for once spoke in a genius way, leaving his friends stunned.

"I didn´t know you could express yourself in such a good and logical way..." The blond´s cigarette fell almost into the hot soup, fortunately missing it, landing in the snow.

"Huh? I did what?" Luffy blinked, looking confused at the nineteen-year-old cook who already regretted his compliment he made two seconds ago.

He and the others expect the strawhat boy sweatdropped.

"Nevermind." With that, he lit a new cigarette. ´But still...it´s strange..´ he thought.

"Eh, Luffy, this stone is from your mother?" Nami cleared her throat, trying to change the subject. Besides that, she really wanted to know more about this mysterious necklace and so did the others.

The seventeen-year-old who had his precious strawhat back, gulped his meal down before he answered. "Yep. She gave it to me when I was seven."

"You sure are a lucky guy, huh Luffy?" Sanji smirked. He couldn´t believe that item saved the strawhat´s life. How likely is that to happen ..? He wasn´t sure, but the other easily could be history now. And his lovely Nami-swan too! He gulped at this thought and gave his friends the plates filled up with a hot soup.

"Happy-go-lucky." Zoro murmured and Luffy laughed at that. "Shishishi! My brother used to say that a lot, too!"

"It looks like it´s made by an Indian. Where did your mother got that from?" Usopp asked as he eyed the (surprisely) still intact stone.

"She made it by herself. My mother was an Indian." Luffy responded calm.

A few loud gasps were heard. Usopp spit out his soup, directly into poor Zoro´s face who wasn´t amused about that..

"Your mother was an Indian? And your father?" the eighteen-year-old gaped surprised. She also had spit out soup, but to Sanji´s luck he had good reflexes and had drawn aside the moment the hot liquide flew toward his face.

Luffy stopped eating for a short moment, looked at his friends, with the meal still in his mouth, and began to eat again.

"Well, my father´s father is from Britain, but Shanks, my papa´s name, was born in Amerika." he said like it was something usual. His nakama slowly recovered from that little shock.

"Wow, so you actually are a half-Indian?" Zoro frowned, staring at Luffy who nodded happy. ´Well, now that I think about it, Luffy also has black hair and a darker skin than usual..´ the swordsman thought while he began to eat again before his soup would get cold.

"She was born in Alaska where she got to know Shanks. For some reason they moved from there near to Seattle where they married. And then I was born." Luffy explained with a warm smile on his lips.

"She was born here? May I ask what her name was?" Usopp asked politely but excited.

The half-Indian looked into the dark sky where a lot of stars could be seen. "Nayeli. It is Indian and means ´I love you´"

At that Usopp widened his eyes. "Nayeli..? I..I´ve heard from hear...I think.." he gulped. Now all eyes were on the Indian. They waited for him to continue.

"Uh..I remember my mother talking about a friend of hers named Nayeli.. but then something happened and she and her husband fleed to US. But I don´t exactly know what they were afraid of. I was just six or seven when she told me about her." He scratched his head.

"Go on." Luffy said in a monoton kind of voice, wanting to know what had happened back then.

"Well, yeah...It happened when I wasn´t born yet. Nayeli was a beautiful and brave woman of our trade. She was often called `Nonhalema` as a nickname, which means..."

Suddenly Luffy ended the sentence. "...´Tall Soldier Woman.´"

"You can speak that language?" The smoking blond asked a little bit taken aback by that fact.

"A bit, yes. My mother told me how to speak her words, my father thaught me how to draw sounds(*) and the English language." he said how an Indian would express it.

His four nakama again were surprised of Luffy. So we actually don´t know that much of him... they thought.

"That´s right, Luffy. Nayeli was like I said brave. She wasn´t scared of anything. But sadly she didn´t have a husband as the other women which made her very sad. She really wanted to have a family. Well, one day, a group of white people came to our trade, wanting to rape the women and kill the men or use them as slaves. They weren´t really strong or brave, but unfortunately they had guns... the Indians didn´t have a real chance against those unfair white men. Then, something unexpected happened."

Usopp made a short pause to raise the tension which really worked by the looks of the other´s faces. "And then?" Nami asked curiously, not knowing that she sounded like a little child. The Indian smirked.

"Heh heh. Uh yeah,..where did I stop..? Ah yes. I remember." he said, making his friends a bit nervous. "A well build man came out of nowhere, beating up our enemies in a blink of an eye! The best thing is: The foreigner didn´t even have a gun, just a Japanese sword!"

At the words ´Japanese sword´ Zoro perked up his ears, getting interested in the story.

"After that, he quickly became friends with my tribe. And Nayeli had thrown an eye on him, so had the man. Said man stayed a few weeks and learned our language and about our culture as well."

"Then it finally happened: The two fell in love with each other. Nayeli was so happy that she eventually found someone to love, but the peacefull atmosphere ended then. Something happened and they fleed. But I don´t know _what_ made them doing so.." he sighed.

"Sorry, Luffy."

Adressed one closed his eyes, but opened them a couple of seconds later again. He sighed. "It´s okay. I guess that´s just another thing I have to figure out."

After that, no one of them knew what to say so they decided it was time to sleep.

"Wake up! WAKE UP, DAMN!" Nami screamed at the two still sleeping persons. She shaked them roughly which was very effective to wake Zoro and Luffy.

"WhazzupNamiIwannasleep..." Luffy replied sleepy as he rubbed his eyes. Zoro blinked. It was already day: Cold and cloudy. He yawned deeply and turned from the sky to her cousin. Mentioned girl was busy with ´trying to persuade Luffy that he should stand up now´. To make it short and simple: The tired strawhat boy was back in the land of dreams, special thanks to Nami...

"Oi, Nami, what´s wro- " but he stopped when he noticed what was wrong. Very wrong. "..Where is Ero-Cook and Usopp..?"

"Huh..?" The furious girl turned to her cousin. "I DON´T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE! THAT´S WHY I´M WAKING YOU UP!" With that loud sentence, Nami got Luffy´s attention.

"WHAT! Sanji and Usopp are missing?" the seventeen-year old suddenly was fully awake and jumped out of his sleeping bag, getting ready for a search.

"Finally you got it. Yeah, I´m afraid they were kidnapped.." Nami was very worried about the two.

But then Luffy gasped. "CHOPPER!" he ran towards his little dog. Said one laid unconscious in the snow with a small bulge on his head. Fortunately he slowly woke up and recocgnized his best friend immediately.

"Thank God you´re okay, little buddy..." luffy murmured, glad to see his dog awake again. He heard the green-haired man curse, making him looking in the direction where his other friends were.

"Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!" It happened again! Why can´t I protect my own brot-" this time, Nami cut Zoro in his mid-sentence.

"Be quiet. I know you regret that you couldn´t help him, but that doesn´t help him much now, you know. Save your energy for the kidnapper."

_Meanwhile, somwhere else:_

His vision was blurry, but slowly it began to become clearer.

Where am I..? Wh-what´s that? Ah, a tree. Two trees. A forest. And what´s that..? A rope. AROUND ME? Huh? Who´s that..? Ah, Sanji. WE´RE BOTH HANDCUFFED TO A TREE? Shit!..And who is that..?

Usopp slowly blinked and looked from the shoes he saw before him up to the face of the strange person.

"Wh-who are you..? What do you w-want f-from u-us..?" he stuttered.

"And where are our friends, you bastard?" Sanji asked without fear.

"Sanji! You are awake! Are you okay?" Usopp asked his friend, reliefed the cook wasn´t conscious.

"Yeah, yeah, I´m fine. But what about the others? What about NAMI? I can barely imagine her, all alone in this cold freezing hell, surrunded by wolves, bears, strange men,..." he sobbed. "Aww, poor, poor Nami-darling!"

"This is not the time to worry about others." The gruffy voice of the man before them was heard, waking Sanji out of his perverted daydreams.

"YOU! What do you want? Did you follow us?" Sanji changed his expression from erotic to pissed off in seconds.

"You know this guy?" Usopp interrogated.

"Yes,sadly. We met him at the ship we were driving when we came to Alaska. This asshole was with Luffy in one room and..."

Lucci snorted,

"...tried to rape Luffy..but we came just in time to save him. The capitan then threw him overboard." the blond with the curly brow quickly explained."I wonder how he managed to get here..." he wondered aloud. Lucci answered that question. "None of your business." he purred.

"Oh my God..and that´s the way you guys got to know Luffy?" The Indian eyed his kidnapper scared.

Sanji nodded, knowing what Lucci wanted..

"A-and know..h-he is after u-us..?" Usopps eyes widened in fear and small shivers were sent down his spine when he thought about it.

"I fear so. Lucci is a.."

The pigeon guy ended Sanji´s sentence: "...perverted. Yes." Then he laughed loudly, causing Usopp and Sanji to look at each other, gulping hard.

**(*) with `draw sounds` I meant writing. Just in case^^**

**This time, I used two original Indian names I found on a special site. I chose ´Nayeli´ ´cause I liked that name when I read it^^ but the meaning of it ( `**_**I love you**_**`) doesn´t have anything to do with the story. **

**If you want to can take a look at that site, there is a list with more Indian names plus translation of the meanings, you can send me a message, then I´ll give you the link to it =)**

**Anyways, I hope you liked it :)**

**Please review ;D**


	13. What are you doing here?

**First of all I have to thank all of the one who reviewed! ****TheXiaDarkness****, DarkAndStormyNight and Linhae =) **

**THANK YOU ;D**

**Pls enjoy ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece!**

**Chapter 13 - What are **_**you**_** doing here...?**

"Hurry up! I have a bad feeling about this.." Nami said with a worried expression on that beautiful face of hers.

"Yes, me too..I wonder what happened." Zoro meant, following his cousin through the snow.

The remaining three had a lot of luck: Chopper had found footprints in the snow, so that they just had to follow them.

Now he was busy with running through the white snow, now and then sniffling a bit into the snow, making sure he wouldn´t loose the groove.

"It isn´t hard to imagine, while we were sleeping, some fuckin´ kidnapper came and took Usopp and Sanji away. That was it." The orange-haired girl commented serious and almost a bit angry. But just almost.

Her cousin sighed.

"Yeah, yeah. But I thought if someone in this country chose which one to take of us, he would kidnap a girl to... ya get the picture." He responded, making Nami realise she didn´t think that way.

"Wow, you´re..right! What was the point of that stranger taking two men...?" She gulped, not wanting to talk more about that subject. "Let´s just hope these two are alright!" She ran even faster, yelling at Luffy to hurry up more to not loose the sight of the fast Chopper in front of them.

They had left their backpags at their rest place, not caring about it at the moment.

Just focusing on finding the blond cook and the Indian.

"WHAT THE HELL? Go away, you fucking pervert!" Sanji screamed as Lucci slowly came nearer, ignoring the cook´s shouts, a perverted expression on his face. The blond desperately tried to remove the scraching ropes by struggling, but failed. Usopp didn´t dare to move, he stared wide-eyed at his enemy, not wanting to know what kind of mix of erotic and perverted daydreams this Lucci guy was imagine right now. Sweat ran down both men´s cheeks.

What could they do now...?

´Where the hell am I...? Don´t tell me I´m lost! Damn! I have to find them immediately!´

The person with a... sunglasses in Alaska? During December...? *clearing throat* well this, *ahem*, strange looking person grumbled something under his breath, disappering behing trees.

"Ssshh! Be quiet for a second! I heard something!" Nami whispered. Luffy and Zoro stopped, looking at the girl that was focusing on the voices she had heard.

They waited.

Nothing was heard, just the soughing of the cold wind.

"Eh? Nami, I can´t hear any-mmmphff!" The orange-haired girl quickly put her hand on Luffy´s mouth to make him shut up. Then there it was again:

A loud scream. This time, all three heard them.

"Holy shit! That´s Sanji´s voice!" Zoro bit his lip, starting to run behind Chopper again.

"What´s happening there..?" Nami shrieked, running behind Zoro and Luffy.

"We have to hurry! Come on, Nami!" Luffy said to the other behind him.

After a while they came to the place where the scream had been and still was heard. Zoro quickly pushed the branches of the firs away to have free sight at the mystery kidnapper. He panted, speechless at what he saw.

"YOU? You ASSHOLE!" the swordsman yelled after he had found his voice again.

The Indian and the cook both turned their heads towards the person Lucci was angry looking at: Zoro.

Mentioned person was pissed as well. So THIS guy had kidnapped his brother and Usopp...he couldn´t believe it! How the hell did he manage to follow them? Damn, Lucci and his stupid pigeon were thrown overboard in the middle of the ocean! How did he survive! the green-haired man was shocked. Truth be told: Lucci was the last guy Zoro would´ve expected to be the kidnapper..

"ZOOROO! I´M SO GLAD!" Usopp sobbed with tears in his eyes, happy this guy didn´t touch him after all.

The Indian still was handcuffed to a tree, but Sanji was on the frozen ground (fortunately still in full clothes), a gun pointed towards his head by Lucci.

Suddenly another two persons appeared from behind Zoro: Nami and Luffy, with Chopper in his arms. The strawhat boy didn´t want his dog to run into the kidnapper´s arms just to be killed by said person! They panted. Then Luffy´s face changed from happy to find the missing two, to surprised to see Sanji laying on the ground, to shocked to see _why_ he was lying there.

"WAAH! YOU!" he shrieked almost like a little scared girl. Nami gasped.

"How the hell did you survive...? That´s impossible!"

Lucci slowly turned his head to the unwelcomed small group. Then he smirked.

"You come a bit untimely, as you can see, I´m pretty busy at the moment...maybe you could come again later..?" he purred, enjoying to watch Luffy, Nami and above all Zoro almost exploding at his words. A vein appeared on the twenty-year-old´s forehead.

"Why..why did you follow us..? And why, for God´s sake, did you kidnap our friends?" the eighteen-year-old asked from behind Luffy, a bit scared of that creepy face of Lucci´s.

"Why I´m here is none of your business. I can´t afford telling you about this, otherwise my boss will get very very angry. Fortunately, I´m able to answer your second question, little lady." he then quickly picked up the surprised Sanj, holding him in a headlock like position, still the loaded gun aimed at him, "I´m that, what you call a pervert. The rest is imaginable, harharhar!"

"Let go off me, you bastard!" Sanji coughed. His wound was hurting like hell, and his friends knew that.

But being a mean guy, Lucci just hit him onto the head, leaving a bulb behind.

That was it. The last straw that breaks the camels back, means Zoro flashed into action. He quickly pulled out his three swords he always wore with himself and shot forwards.

Lucci already had thought the green-haired one would attack and was prepared for this. The pigeon guy stepped aside, face to Zoro who tried another hit but at once stopped when his opponent pointed the gun to Sanji´s temple.

Nami and Luffy watched this from where they had appeared. Their fists clenched at the actions by Lucci, he was just too unfair.

"YOU...!" The black-haired boy stepped forwards to attack the enemy, but was stopped by the orange-haired girl besides him.

"Wait! If you attack now, Sanji´ll be dead! Don´t move!" she snapped although Nami didn´t want to sound that bitchy to Luffy. She couldn´t help doing so, this pigeon ass just pissed her off to no end!

Luffy just wanted to protest as he noticed Nami´s hands at his shoulders were trembling. He knew his femal nakama was right, and even though he wanted to send Lucci to the moon and even more far away, he stepped back besides the orange-haired girl, watching helplessy in silence.

"N-no! S-Sanji!" Usopp also had to watch. He felt so useless at the moment that he silently cursed himself for being handcuffed and no help at all.

"Let my brother go. Now." Zoro dangerously growled, still in a fighting position.

Lucci smirked. Oh, I´m such a sadist! he thought to himself. Sanji bit his lip as his kidnapper still didn´t move. Now he truly feared for his life. Cold sweat ran down his face which was as white as a sheet. He couldn´t move much, still at gunpoint and with that stupid gunshot wound in his side.

Sanji tried, as stupid as it may sound, to think of his home, his and Zoro´s parents, the beautiful girls in their hometown, ... to make it short and simple: He desperately tried to think of something beautiful.

But for one thing he was deeply grateful: That this guy hadn´t kidnapped his lovely Nami-swan~~!

Meanwhile, Luffy slowly krawled towards his friend Usopp who couldn´t stop his tears from floating down his face. Nami, carefully holding Luffy´s cute little

dog, kept an eye on that venturous action of Luffy, but she had to admit that the strawhat boy did a great job. As he had learned krawling silently from his mother Nayeli like Indian style he didn´t make a single noise, that´s why Lucci didn´t even notice that, much to Usopp´s like.

Mentioned Indian silently prayed for Sanji and himself.

Back to Lucci, Sanji and Zoro, none of these three hadn´t moved a sinlge inch.

But well, Sanji was, without noticing it, blowing out smoke in heart forms...Zoro rosed an eyebrow at this typical action of his brother.

The pigeon guy who always acted so cool and so on, suddenly had a dumb expression on his not so good looking face, not understanding why there were hearts coming from his victims mouth while there was a GUN pointed to his head...!

Zoro, realising his chance, quickly shot forward and lifted his sword. That all happened so fast, Lucci had no time to react or defend himself from being cut.

That was his bad luck, Zoro quickly cut the shocked Lucci right into the arm.

The kidnapper shrieked surprised, letting go of Sanji who fell to the ground, still daydreaming of his Nami-darling. When he hit the snow with his face, he finally came back to reality, blinked as he found himself in the snow instead of in ´Lucci´s arms´.

"Wha..?" He started, but then he understood what had happened when he saw his brother with a bloody sword in front of Lucci. Said person had dropped his gun which now laid somewhere in the snow.

"YOSHA! GOOD ZORO!" Usopp shouted enthusiastic and Nami and Luffy joined in cheering. So Sanji was safe, what a luck! nami thought reliefed.

But that didn´t last long, Lucci wasn´t so stupid as he may looked like. The man had a second gun in his pocket and now he pulled it out, aiming again at the blond cook in the snow.

Luffy froze in the half-way to Usopp who piped down, Nami just stood there, gaping with her hands before his mouth.

Lucci laughed at that pathetic scene, moving his index finger. Before Sanji or one of the others could scream, Zoro threw himself without thinking about it in front of the gun.

"ZORO!" his nakama shouted, too late.

Then, before you can say knife, a BANG echoed through the forest, causing Nami and Usopp to gasp loudly, Luffy to flinch a bit and Sanji to wide his eye in shock.

The blond cook hat opened his mouth to a silent scream, his cigarette fell out of it into the snow. Now he had a look of horror onto his pale face.

´Why you stupid damn marimo brother of mine...?´ shot through his head and he didn´t dare to move a single inch. His brother in front of him gaped.

"Z-Zoro! A-are you alright? Say something!" Nami screamed at her green-haired cousin with tears in her eyes, gripping tighter onto the poor Chopper. She and Sanji definately didn´t want to loose another precious person!

All eyes were on the surprisingly still standing swordsman and his opponent whose face slowly turned into that of pain.

"H-huh?" Sanji blinked a couple of times, slowly realising what was going on. "Y-you..?"

The next thing that happened, was that Lucci collapsed into the snow, a nice hole in his back that bleed from it.

The nakama on the one hand sighed in relief, but on the other they were still tensed about who shot at Lucci...?

This all happened so fast, the five friends holding their breath in, not able to say anything. Even Zoro was shocked. He expected to be shot to death and now that had happened...

After a short amount of time, the strange person with the sunglasses(!) stepped out from behind a tree from were he had shot.

Sanji, Zoro, Nami and Luffy gasped and couldn´t believe their eyes. Why was _he_ here...?

"Hehehe. I came just in time. That was really close, eh?" He pushed his sunglasses onto his head with the blue hair, grinning at the other five. Then he went into an embarrasing and someway perverting pose, screaming:" I feel SUPER today!"

"FRANKY!" the four who already got to know him, yelled, eyes almost plopping out of their heads. Hell, what was he doing here?

Half an hour later, same rast place as the night before:

Nami quickly had bandaged up the wound cook again. "Your wound is healing nicely, Sanji! Only a few days and you can take the bandages off." Nami smiled to her cousin whose only visible eye had formed a dark red heart, loving to be treatened by Nami.

The four quickly had told Usopp how they got to know the blue-haired capitan who had a big bagpack with him.

They had lit a fire and Franky then finally began to explain.

"Well, the reason why I was following you, was ´cause I felt responsible for that what Lucci had done."

The others raised a brow at that. "Huh? Why´s that?" Luffy asked curiously.

Franky sighed. "Yeah, well, you know this guy was thrown overboard, ne?" The other nodded.

"The thing is, I didn´t really throw him overboard, while I was carrying him upstairs he suddenly awoke and pointed a gun to my head! I was totally startled by that sudden move, I couldn´t do anything to defend myself. To my surprise he didn´t order me to turn around and go downstairs, he told me to do following: I should act as if I had thrown him overboard, but the truth is, he stole a small boat which was usually meant to the capitan if the ship sinks someday, and paddled quickly away. But how he managed to get to Alaska safely is a mystery." He sighed. The five didn´t know what to say so Franky continued.

"When I was at the harbour of St. Michaels I suddenly saw this Lucci there, buying proviant! I couldn´t believe my eyes! And then I decided to follow him, I had a bad feeling about him being in the same town as you. I´m sorry for causing you trouble, bro´s and sis´!"

Zoro scratched his head. "But why did he follow us?"

His nakama and Franky didn´t know how to answer that. They all silently wondered about that, too.

"Ne, Franky, after all you saved our ass´s, wouldn´t you like to join us?" Luffy happily asked, all anger and shock from earlier that day forgotten.

"LUFFY!" all yelled, not wanting the strawhat boy to decide things like that on his own, but it was already too late, the ´damage´ was done:

Franky went into a dancing pose and agreed cheering with an extra loud ´THAT´ S SUPER!`

Sanji, Zoro, Nami and Usopp sighed defeated. Just great, another crazy companion in this group...

The same evening, a few unanswered questions were silently wondered about.

Who is the mysterious boss Lucci had mentioned before? And why were they interested in them? What did they plan..:?

**So, the next chapter is done, yay =) I hope it wasn´t too bad, I typed it reallly fast^^ and I also hope it wasn´t too short!**

**Again, thanks for all the reviews ;D**

**I hope you liked this chapter!**

**Please review :)**


	14. Trouble ahead

**First of all I have to say that I´m really sorry for the late update, but I was sitting in front of my television, watching football^^ **

**Second: Thanks to Linhae for the SUPER review xD**

**Third: I wanna thank all of you who put this as a favourite story! Thank you! **

**And thanks to everyone who put me as a favourite author! I´m so happy, thank you guys ;D**

**Well, sorry for the stupid title but sadly no better idea came to my mind^^ **

**Okay, and now let´s start with the 14th chap! Please enjoy it :D**

**Chapter 14 - Trouble ahead**

The night sky was beautiful to watch. Many stars could be seen. Now and then a shooting star passed the sky. It almost engended the effect the shooting stars hurried over the dark sky as fast as possible, not wanting to be seen.

Almost everyone of the now six were sleeping. Well, _almost _everyone...one, who was, besides that, really proud of himself for saving his little brother, was still awake.

´That´s just too strange. I wonder about the Indians who killed the men back at the river... something really strange is going on..´

Zoro sighed. He laid in his warm sleeping back, thinking of the events of the day.

´I guess we have to figure out about that and the pigeon guy´s boss, otherwise we´ll get into big troubles...`

Again he let out a frustrated sigh. Thinking was no use in this case, so he decided to go to sleep and just see what the next day will bring for surprises.

The six quickly ate their breakfast, cold beans, and continued their journey as fast as possible. They all had agreed to get away from this place very quickly. The reason why was because since they had awoken, the six felt being watched.

They all could feel the eyes of stranger on their backs and whenever they turned around, nothing unusual could be seen. It was creepy.

Now they were on their way to their luck.

For Usopp it was to find his family again, for most of the others it was to find some gold.

The Indian often wondered if that would really make someone happy, and the long nose couldn´t be able to relate that. It was just...material! Just stones!

The seventeen-year-old had tried to talk about that to Nami, but always failed. That girl just had an other opinion. Nothing could change that, Usopp thought after he failed.

Then he began to think of his tribe, his family. Are they all healthy after so long time? He was curious to how they all would react if he appeared suddenly from out of nowhere. They sure think he was dead already.

He had a sad expression on his face at the last thought. Usopp thought about his father, Yasopp. He must feel so lonely now, first loosing his wife, Bankina, then his son..

Another thought came to his mind. What if they didn´t want him back? He was friends with white people who try to find some of that golden stones! What if they don´t like his new friends...?

No no no! They sure will like them! Will they? Truth be told: The Indian wasn´t sure.

But then, something else stroke him. He shuddered. It felt like a forebonding. A forebonding of something awful that was going to happen...

"Ne, what´s wrong Usopp?" Nami drove beside him, frowning. The Indian shaked his head and put a small smile on.

"Huh? Uh..nothing, nothing, don´t worry!"

´Everything will be alright...I hope...´ he assured himself silently.

A few days passed and nothing strange had happened, much to the six friends like.

Nami, Luffy and Franky were at the Yukon River trying to find any gold in there, which wasn´t so easy. After all, it was winter, so it was very cold, above all the water.

They had tried so many times the days before, but the three wouldn´t give up.

Usopp was sitting onto his sleeping back, watching Sanji cooking, Zoro was sleeping besides the huskys. In the lap of the swordsman was a curled up a little brown furry thing, Chopper, sleeping peacefully.

Sanji eyed his brother, snorting. "He is with his own kind now, tee hee." he chuckled. The Indian smirked and wanted to respond something.

A shriek from the river let the chuckle of the cook die. Usopp flinched a little and he quickly shut his mouth. Zoro and the dogs, surprisingly, just ignored it and continued with sleeping.

"W-what´s going on?" Usopp gulped. He and Sanji looked at each other for a moment, then they hurried over to the others at the river.

"That sounded like my Nami-darling is in trouble!" he said while he was running. Usopp slowed down a little to hide behind his blond nakama.

"What´s wrong?" Sanji panted out of brath. "Eh?" he blinked. All he saw was a cheering Luffy who laughed like an idiot, an embarrassing Franky (SUPER!) and a eighteen-year-old girl who acted like she was five and her parents told her it was her birhtday and Christmas today.

The other two sweat dropped at that awkward scene before them. "Uh...Nami-swan..? I-It´s cold, ya know...I wouldn´t jump into the river now..." Sanji spoke very irritated.

"YATTA! YATTA! YATTA! WOHOOO! I FOUND GOLD!" she shrieked in return, ignoring the smoking cook´s warning.

Luckily Franky finally hold the orange-haired-girl back. "Oi, oi, little sis´, calm down."

Sanji smiled. So his beloved cousin was save...he turned to Luffy. "So you did find gold...?" he asked a bit excited.

The seventeen-year-old nodded with a wide smile on his face. "Shishishishi~! Yosh! Nami found a few gold nuggets! Finally! Shishishi~!" he cheered happily.

"Oh. That´s great, I guess.." Usopp tried to smile. He wasn´t so happy about that, but well, if his friends were glad then he would be glad too.

Sanji didn´t notice the mood of the Indian, he was too focused on what he had heard. "Yeah! That´s fantastic! Can I see it?" he asked, also acting like a little child.

"Sure, sure!" Luffy handed four five centimeters big nuggets over to the blong. "Here you are. They are amazing, aren´t they?" He smiled.

"Wow! They are so big! Nami-san did a great job finding them! And now..." the cook looked into Luffy´s eyes.

"...we are rich, rich, rich!" both of them danced like drunken men. Usopp giggled at the two.

Later that evening all of them were sitting around a fire. It was already dark.

"I´m soo damn happy! Now I can buy what I want..! I´m rich!" Nami laughed hysterical. Zoro rose a brow at his crazy cousin.

"WE are rich. Don´t forget we all agreed before that we would share what ever we find, ne?" he grumbled. Nami pouted. "Yeah, yeah."

They went on discussing who would get which of the gold, where they could go on searching tomorrow, what Nami could buy now with that, and things like that.

But one of them didn´t talk too much, he sat there, staring into the fire, hard thinking of something. His friends stopped for a moment with talking as they noticed that.

"What´s wrong Luffy?" Usopp asked his nakama. Said one shrugged.

"I dunno. Something is just...wrong. Like something important is missing..." he didn´t finish his sentence. The other nakama quiet down for a second, then Nami noticed something very important.

"Say, where is your strawhat? A few hours ago you still had it but now.." She pointed towards Luffy´s head, "It´s not there"

The half-Indian gasped. "Oh NO!" He grabbed his head as if he wanted to reassure himself that his treasure really was gone. "MY HAT!"

Hysterical he looked around, searching for it, but he couldn´t see it around.

"That´s right. When Nami found the gold it was still on your head." Usopp meant thoughtfully. Franky and Sanji agreed.

"I HAVE to find it!" Luffy had his eyes wide opened in shock.

"Easy there, Luffy." Sanji tried to calm him a bit.

"Where did you see him the first time without hat?" Zoro asked the others. They thought about it.

"Mh, I think the first time he didn´t have his hat was when we sat down here, showing Zoro our treasure." Franky thought aloud.

"Consequently Luffy-bro lost it on the way back from the Yukon River to our rest place." the eldest of the group pointed behind him, into the direction of the river.

"SHIT!" the seventeen-year-old shot forwards. His friends sighed. "C´mon, we have to help him." Zoro muttered and stood up.

Nami and Sanji lit candles to make it easier for them to search. Luffy was in front of them, desperately trying to find that hat of his.

A few minutes passed, no hat was there.

"Nonononono!" Luffy whined and came back to his waiting friends. The other five also didn´t find the strawhat.

"Hey Luffy, let´s search tomorrow, it´s too dark to see anything." Nami softly spoke. "And it´s too dangerous now. Let´s go to sleep."

Zoro sighed, knowing the other wouldn´t give up so easily. The hat was Luffy´s treasure.

"TOMORROW? No! That´s too late! I have to find it NOW!" he yelled and surprised his nakama who flinched at the sudden outburst.

"Luffy..." Nami tried to explain it was impossible to find it now, but the strawhat boy didn´t let her finish.

"I can search on my own, that doesn´t matter! If you don´t want then I´ll go alone!"

Now Nami was getting mad. "Don´t be so stupid! It is dangerous all alone! What if there are more stupid idiots like Lucci?" She shouted.

"Oi, oi, don´t.." Sanji wanted to stop the escalating situation, but his cousin spoke again.

"URUSAI YO (1)!" the cook at once shut his mouth, watching helplessy the other two arguing.

"I don´t care! I´m old enough to look after myself! Now let me go!" Luffy struggled against the tight grip Nami had on the boy´s wrist.

"Nami´s right! Don´t be so fucking stubborn!" Usopp grumbled at the other black-haired one. Sanji, Zoro and Franky agreed.

"Let´s go back to sleep, we´ll go searching the next day." the green haired swordsman told Luffy who was still struggling.

"Don´t you understand? I must find it!" tears came to the teen´s eyes, but it was so dark the others didn´t noticed that. Now the eighteen-year-old had enough.

Without thinking of it, she slapped Luffy right across the face, hard. Said person immediately quiet down at that.

"Nami-sis´!" Franky said. The girl lifted her hand to signal him to be quiet. Now all eyes were on Luffy who held his hurt cheek. No one knew what to say after that, then Nami slowly began to speak.

"It. is. too. dangerous." although she murmured these words, her five nakama could hear them very good. "Do you want to give your life for that strawhat?" she shouted.

Silence.

"Huh..?Luffy..?" Nami blinked, all anger forgotten as a few sobs were heard. And when she wanted to comfort the boy, he suddenly backed away, lifting his head. Now they all saw the tears in his eyes even though it was dark.

"Don´t touch me!" to say Nami, Franky, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp were shocked was an understatement. Never before Luffy had talked in this strange, almost fearful kind of voice. And never before he had said something like this.

"Look, m´sorry for slapping you, but.." Nami apologiezed carefully.

"No! I don´t want to hear it!" Luffy trembled. "I would do everything to get this hat back! It is, besides Chopper, a very precious object I never wanna loose!" he yelled and took a step back. Chopper, standing near Usopp, whined.

And before his nakama could say anything, Luffy turned around and run away. "I´ll find it, and no one of you can stop me!" he shouted. With that he was gone, disappearing into the dark forest near them.

"LUFFY! DON`T!" his friends shouted.

"Sh-shit! What did I do?" Nami sobbed.

"No, Nami-san, it´s not your fault. We all held him back." Sanji comforted his Nami.

"Crap-cook´s right. Luffy is just too stubborn." Zoro grumbled, litting another candle.

"W-what are you doing..?" Nami wiped her tears away. "I´ll go and find him. He directly run into the forest, that´s not good at a time like this."

"Zoro-bro is right! I´ll go with him, finding Luffy bro!" Franky smiled.

"We are all going. That´s the best thing to do, I guess." Sanji lit a new cigarette, tieing all of the huskys except Chopper onto a tree. When he finished, he started walking into the forest with a candle in his hand. "Let´s hurry"

Meanwhile

´Why can´t they understand...? It is my hat from Shanks..!´

He stepped through the snow. His sadness were long gone, replaced by anger. He didn´t think much of what danger could be around him, his mind was focused on his missing hat. After a while he stopped, looking around.

`Why the hell do I feel so watched..? No one´s here!´ he cursed something under his breath and continued walking.

Luffy came to a clearing. He sighed. That was stupid. He was stupid. He shouldn´t have run away, his nakama were just worrying ´bout him, right? Maybe he should turn around and walk back, apologizing.

But then, what about his hat..? Luffy honestly didn´t know what to do now. Suddenly he shuddered as he could clearly feel eyes on him. The teenager scanned the area as good as he could in the dark, but he saw no one there. Did he hallucinate? he scratched his head.

A loud crack under his feet let him flinch and back two steps away. Wh-what..? he gulped. It couldn´t be! Shit shit shit!

"Minna (2)! I think he went this way! There are footprints in the snow!" Nami informed the others. They followed them til they came to a clearing as well.

"There! There´s Luffy!" Usopp suddenly shouted, pointing to a silhouette meters ahead from the five. Chopper barked loudly, sensing something was wrong.

At once the five nakama widened his eyes, knowing Luffy was in trouble. Big trouble.

"Luffy! Come back to-" but Usopp was cut off by another loud crack that hallowed through the air. The next moment, Luffy had managed to turn around and look his friends into the eyes, the ice underneath the said boy´s feet gave in and Luffy fell into the dark lake. A loud splash was heard. The seventeen-year old even didn´t have time to shout before he dived into the freezing water.

´Sorry, minna...!´ he thought before sank deeper and deeper. The boy wasn´t able to swim, he´d never learned it.

"LUFFY!"

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**(1) = Urusai yo = Shut up**

**(2) = Minna= everyone**

**Sorry to leave it with that ;) **

**Please review ;D **

**Until next time!**


	15. Fever

**Wow, have you watched Portugal - North Korea? Portugal won 7:0! I sat in front of my tv, my jaw on the floor^^ It was really amazing *dances* **

**Oh, you still here...? Hee hee hee *blushes & scratches the back of the head***

**Anyways, please enjoy the next chapter :D**

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, just the plot**

**Chapter 15 - Fever**

"LUFFY!" his friends screamed, eyes widened in shock.

But the half-Indian wasn´t able to hear them, he sank deeper and deeper. ´Oh god, it is so fucking cold..´ His head hurt like hell in the icy water and his limbs went numb. Then Luffy´s vision began to blurry. ´Air..air...I need...air..´

Without hesitation, Zoro stripped off his shoes, trousers, jacket and sweatshirt so that he was just in his pants and jumped into the cold water right after Luffy.

The others held in their breath and didn´t dare to inhale. They waited and it seemed to take the swordsman for hours to save Luffy...if he only could find the seventeen-year-old teenager in the darkness...

"This stupid strawhat! Like a little child!" a person cursed, hiding behind a tree near the lake. He had a good view at it and the five waiting friends on the rand of the frozen lake. "Don´t you dare and die, you bastard! We still need you..!"

"Calm down." another person behind him told him.

"Yeah, yeah...but everything goes wrong! And Lucci, this perverted nebbish couldn´t do anything right.. good thing he´s dead now."

"Serves him right" the other person responded coldly, not taking his gaze off of the scene in front of them.

´My head is going to explode...why is there no one to save me..? Please help... I don´t wanna die... h..e..l..p...´ everything around Luffy began to turn black. The last thing he could recognize in the cold waters was a person above him that swam in his direction and tried to grab him...then he passed out.

Zoro bit his lip. ´Shit! It is cold!´ but he could already see Luffy underneath him. He wouldn´t give up now! Zoro stretched his arm as long as he cold and luckily managed to grab the unconscious teenager. He placed him between his arm and his chest, not letting go of him no matter what, and swam with all of his strenght back to the surface.

The swordsman´s lungs screamed for air and hurt like hell. He had to hurry otherwise both of them would die there..but where was the area where Luffy broke in...? Just ice above them, where ever he looked!

"They are a long time down there! We should do something!" Usopp panicked.

"Usopp´s right! Sanji! Do something! _Anything_!" Nami sounded like she was going to cry every second. Sanji gulped. What should he do?

"I..what?" he turned to his cousin and the Indian, sweat run down his face although it was a cold night. "I´ll jump in and search for the two! Maybe Zoro-bro is lost!" Franky suggested and wanted to jump in, when the blond cook grabbed his arm. "Wait!" Franky stopped.

"Wha..?"

"That´s no use! You won´t find them, it´s too dark! Franky, you´ll just get as lost as Zoro!"

Tthe blue-haired man wanted to respond something but a loud gasp for air from Zoro let them turn around. And when they recognized that indeed Zoro and Luffy were there, the four sighed in relief. Chopper barked happily as he saw Luffy and quickly ran towards him.

"Ahh, you idiot!" Zoro insulted Luffy, even though the teen was completely out cold. The green-haired man tried to pull himself and the boy quickly out of that cold water. He could barely take it, it hurt so much! But Zoro didn´t want to show his friends that he was weak, so he bit his tongue and reminded silent.

"Zoro! Luffy!" Usopp shouted. "We should help him, he has problems with coming out of the lake!"

Nami, Sanji and Franky nodded. "But how? We need a rope! Otherwise we would also brake in!" Nami meant nervously.

"Crap! Nami-swan is-oh?" the blond started to swear, but he stopped when he suddenly saw a rope to his feet."Who.." but his cousin had already grabbed it, no matter where it was from, and threw it to a freezing Zoro who couldn´t feel his feet anymore and was thankful to get hold on that rope.

Luffy in his arms didn´t move a single inch nor did he breathe.

"Aaand...PULL!" Nami ordered. Immediately Franky, Usopp and Sanji pulled the two out to the safe land.

"Zoro! How do you feel? Is Luffy okay?" the eighteen-year-old asked worried, helping the half-frozen swordsman to his barefeet.

"Yeah, I feel fine." he bibbered. His lips turned dark blue. "But Luffy, that fool, doesn´t look so well." He pointed to wards the pale boy in his arms. Luffy´s lips were dark blue just as Zoro´s.

"Oh my God...is he..?" Usopp didn´t dare to ask more. He stared at his friend.

"Don´t just stand there and stare! Zoro, put your clothes on or you´ll freeze to death! And you, help me! We have to take his clothes off immediately!" Nami ordered, already beginning with undressing the cold and pale teenager´s upper body. A few seconds later, the wet and half frozen jacket and sweatshirt were down.

The orange-haired girl promptly began with pressing the water out of Luffy´s lungs. "Breathe! Breathe, c´mon, don´t die on me!" In Nami´s eyes small tears formed.

Sanji, Usopp and Franky just stood there like frozen, not knowing what to do.

"Luffy! Breathe now!" Nami cried out, desperately trying to make him breathe. Sanji bent down to the two, clapsing Luffy onto the cheeks. "He feels so cold.." he whispered.

"No..." Usopp started to cry silently, not wanting something terrible like this to happen. Franky put his left arm around the Indian to comfort him a little.

Meanwhile, Zoro, still freezing like hell, was fully dressed again, watching the scene helplessy. He hugged himself to warm him up a bit which really did help a little. The valiant young man was still wet and very cold, but didn´t complained. Slowly he came nearer, hearing his brother and cousin shouting things like ` Don´t die on us now!´, `You idiot! Open your eyes!´ and so on.

It seemed like hours ´til Luffy, finally, coughed up some of the water. But he still didn´t fill his lungs with the essential oxygen. Chopper licked the pale teen´s hands, hopefully staring at his best friend who didn´t look good.

The loss of hope grew bigger and bigger. Minutes died away and nothing happened. Usopp and Franky laid arms in arms, crying. The little dog whimpered very sad. Sanji and Nami sobbed and Zoro had a blank expression on his face. His fists clenched.

Then the orange-haired girl decided to try it one more time. She bent down and pressed her warm lips against the blue, cold of Luffy. Sanji and the others watched, now full of hope again, silently praying for the black-haired teen.

Nami kept Luffy´s nose shut, deeply inhaled the cold air around them, and did the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After two deep breaths Nami exhaled into Luffy´s mouth, mentioned one at once blurted a lot of water out. The hope rose. Nami did it again, and this time, the almost dead Luffy opened his eyes.

"Luffy!" Nami smiled and so did the others.

"Thank Godness!" Usopp wiped his tears away, letting go of the still crying Franky. "Luffy-bro! This is so greahaat!" he sobbed.

"Tch. You really made us worry, buddy." Zoro scratched reliefed the back of his head.

"Finally. Don´t do that ever again, you hear me?" Sanji smiled down at the boy who coughed and gasped for air.

"Y-you guys...what a luck, I thought I was gonna die..." he coughed and closed his eyes again. Seconds after that, soft snores were heard from the boy, causing his nakama to shake their heads with a small smile on their lips.

"We have to undress him quickly and put him into warm clothes. He and Zoro need a hot soup. It´s still dangerous for them, let´s head back quickly! Zoro, can you walk?" the girl asked her cousin.

"Of course I can. I´m not such a crybaby as my little brother, the curly brow." he grumbled. Sanji´s visible eye twitched at that and he shoutet at his elder brother.

"You stupid Marimo! Go back into the waters!"

"Make me going back, ero-cook!" Zoro answered pissed but with a small smirk on his still blue lips.

"Hey you two! Stop arguing, this isn´t the right time! We have to hurrry, got it?" Nami glared at the two always arguing brothers. Then she gently lifted Luffy up.

"C´mon, lil´ sis´, I´ll carry him back." Franky offered and took the shivering Luffy into his arms.

Just when Sanji opened his mouth to insult his brother, Nami walked besides them, slowly rising her index finger to get their attention.

"Ne, guys. If you two are going to start another of your childish fights, in a stiuation like this, both of you have to pay me so much money back that even your great-great-grandchildren have to work for me! Just keep that in mind." she said, calm but with an agressive tone in her voice.

After that speech of Nami´s, the two boys decided it would be better to be quiet for the rest of the evening...

"Let´s hope that little whore survived, eh?" the man from before smirked at his partner who agreed.

"These kids are just too stupid. Without out rope, this guy with the grassy hair and the other would´ve died in that ice water." he spoke almost emotionsless.

"I don´t think we´ll get it back. But he will be satisfied, we soon reach our goal.."

Minutes after that, they were all back at their camp, changing Luffy´s wet clothes into dry one, laying him gently into his sleeping bag with three more blankets.

He still was pale and cool, but he looked more alive than before.

Zoro did the same, but before he went into his sleeping bag, he got a hot soup to drink which he was really grateful for. But he wouldn´t admit that to that ero-cook, never!

Usopp quickly checked up on the other huskys and ascertained they all were where they had left them before. The Indian made sure they all got something to eat and after that he fed Chopper who was laying on top of the still sleeping Luffy. Nami still felt a little bit responsible for what had happened as she watched the teen. Plus, Luffy won´t be happy tomorrow when he learns that his hat is still missing..! The girl sighed, wishing she hadn´t done what she had done. Wishing she may had helped him searching..

But the blond cook always reassured her she saved Luffy´s life and did nothing wrong which made Nami feel better.

After a short meal the friends laid in their sleeping bags.

"Ahh, what a stressful day..I hope Luffy is okay tomorrow." Nami sighed, watching the fire they had lit before meal.

"It sure was...I wonder why Luffy-bro was so agitated ´cause of his strawhat..." Franky wondered aloud.

"It´s from Shanks, a person he loved very much. But we don´t know anything else ´bout him and his hat." Sanji remembered what Luffy once had told them.

"Yes, Luffy is very close-mouthed about his past. Anyways, it is none of our business." Zoro said.

"Aren´t you curious to what had happened to our half-Indian? I mean, sure, it is his business, but we are his friends, his nakama, we should know more about him." Nami meant thoughtfully. If she and the other thought more about it, they really didn´t know much about Luffy.

"Really? Now I´m curious, too, who is that Shanks? And besides that, where does he come from?" Nobody could answer Franky´s question and reminded silent, so he decided to talk again. "He seemed so tensed back at the ship." Franky thought back when he was still a capitan and brought Nami and her cousins, that perverted Lucci with his stupid pigeon, the tievish Alvida and the sheepish boy with the strawhat to Alaska. Well, most of them, Lucci and Alvida both disappeared on the half way.

"I feel watched." Usopp suddenly stated out of the blue.

"Yeah...I know what ya mean. And this is not the first time...plus, where did that rope from earlier come from? We surely didn´t take one with us!" Sanji spoke, puffing out his smoke.

"I haven´t thought about this, I was just focused on saving Luffy and Zoro..you are right.." Nami gulped. Who was out there? Was the mysterious person watching them right now? And how many of them were there?

"I know it may sounds strange, but...I think Luffy has something to do with the mystery." Sanji didn´t like to say something like this against his friend, but since Luffy was with them, one weird incident after the other has happened...

They had to bring this stubborn teenager to talk tomorrow...

The next day was cloudy. Nami, Franky and Zoro were already awake and packed their things, feeling watched from all sides. Sure, they had found gold there, but they prepared for a search for Luffy´s hat and wanted to rest a few miles more eastern where the chance of more gold was bigger.

They quickly woke Usopp, Luffy and Sanji to get away from that place and maybe even rid of that chaser. Usopp murred sleepy about his great adventours of his life, saying a brave warrior needs a lot of sleep. They just ignored the poor Indian.

Sanji was easier to wake. The first time the blond opened his eye and saw his lovely Nami-darling, he was fully dressed in less than a wink of an eye, dancing around his cousin.

"Luffy, stand up. We have to go." Nami shaked the boy, who didn´t respond. Nami frowned. The boy didn´t look good at all. He had a red face and coughed now and then. The young female put a hand on Luffy´s forehead only to flinch seconds after it away, deeper frowning.

"Something wrong, Nami dear?" Sanji lit a new cigarette. He and the other were ready, just waiting for the other two. Nami turned to her friends, a serious expression on that beautiful face of hers.

"Guys, Luffy has caught a fever."

**So, a new chapter done, yay^^ **

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**I hope you liked it :D**

**Please review ;)**


	16. The truth

**Soo, here is the 16th chapter!**

**A big ´thank you´ and the first price for the many reviewes goes to...**

**Linhae! **

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**Please enjoy :-)**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece!**

**Chapter 16 - The truth**

"WHAT?" the others widened their eyes. "Luffy a fever?"

"That comes from his involuntarily taken bath yesterday..." Franky guessed aloud. Zoro nodded, sniffling. "No wonder. The water was fucking cold, even I have caught the snuffles" to prove that, he loudly sneezed, making Usopp jump in shock.

"D-don´t d-d-do that again...! You shocked me...!" the Indian panted, his hands at his fast bumping heart.

Nami sighed, looking down at the sick half-Indian, again putting a hand to his forehead. "I´m afraid he is seriously sick. His fever seems to be very high."

"Holy shit! What are we going to do now?" Sanji scratched his head, desperately thinking of an idea how to help Luffy. "Do we have any medicine for him?"

"Usopp, bring my bag! There should be some medical stuff, at least a little bit."

"H-hai!" Usopp saluted, turning around and quickly grabbed the orange-haired girl´s bag. "Here, you are." he handed it to the girl.

"What kind of sickness is it?" Zoro asked, stepping besides Nami who shaked her head.

"I have no idea. Give me more time!" she almost snapped and Zoro decided to let her work. Maybe she could figure out which sickness it was and how to heal it.

"Sanji, could you cook him a hout soup? That should help." Nami, in her doctor-state, ordered the blond cook who immediately prepared to cook.

"Sure, Nami-swan! Leave it to me!"

Nami placed her bag down, opening it and foraged in it until she seemed to have found what she was searching for: A compress.

"Zoro, could you go and make it wet in the river? We need to lower his fever." she asked him.

Normally the proud swordsman wouldn´t have let himself ordered around by that whitch, but it was for Luffy... so he agreed and went, without complaining, to the Yukon River.

"Oi, Luffy, you with me?" Nami gently woke him up. Luffy blinked a few times, trying to get a clear vision of the person above him. Then he could hear the person speak to him, but he couldn´t make out the words. The strawhat boy shaked his head to get fully awake. Bad mistake.

It felt like his brain is going to explode! Luffy slowly grabbed his hurting head, trying to sit up. When he then sat in his sleeping bag, he finally could recognize the person.

"Nami." he spoke with a hoarse voice. Surprised to this strange voice, he tried to clear his throat by coughing. Sadly that didn´t help much, in fact, it made his throat hurt more than before.

"Hey there. How do you feel?" Nami asked worried.

"Not good." When he thought about it, he didn´t feel good at all, he felt like shit. His head hurt, when he tried to move, all of his limbs were numb and also hurt, as he looked over to the cooking Sanji and the soup, Luffy´s stomach turned upside down and he had the urge to vomit. Nami seemed to notice this and wanted to help Luffy stand up and throw up into the snow, when the seventeen-years-old shot up and raced to the next tree to barf behind it.

The eighteen-years-old was a little bit taken aback by that quick action, but quickly caught herself and went over to the boy.

Luffy himself had finished and now leaned against the cold tree, just in socks, trousers and a shirt with long sleeves.

"Luffy!" Nami called out to him, not getting an answer. She put a hand on his shoulder. "C´mon, you have to go back to sleep, you´re sick." she spoke, slowly walking back with him through the snow.

"Wait, wait, lil´ bro, I´ll carry you." Franky offered, and picked the other up. "Thanks Franky" Nami thanked him.

´It is soo hot...why is it so hot?´ Luffy thought, shutting his eyes and letting himself carried back to his sleeping bag.

The blue-haired man laid the teen back into his ´bed´.

"Are you feeling better now?" Nami asked him, kneeling besides him.

Luffy opened his glassy eyes. "No." he merely answered, causing Nami to sigh deeply. "Well, then try to sleep a little, it´ll help you getting better. Later you can have a hot soup if you want." she informed him, putting another blanket over him. He nodded a ´thanks´ and shut his eyes.

"Nami-swan, what are we going to do now?" Sanji whispered, not wanting to wake the fast asleep Luffy.

"I...I honestly don´t know. We should wait until he wakes up again and give him the hot soup. And we should stay here for a while, traveling in his condition would only make it worse." she glanced back at the boy. "But we can´t do much for him now. Maybe he gets better if we wait...all we can do is wait..." she trailed off. Then her face brightened a little, only a little, when she saw Zoro with the cold and wet cloth nearing.

"Zoro! Finally!" Nami grabbed it from Zoro´s hands and put it onto Luffy´s forehead, hoping to lower the fever a bit with that. The green-haired man grumbled somthing about unthankfully whitch.

The adressed one turned around, glaring at her cousin. "Yeah, yeah, thanks" Nami shot back, not in the mood to argue.

"Don´t we have any medicine for him?" Usopp asked hopefully, trying to calm the sad Chopper by petting him.

"I´m afraid we haven´t...in our town there weren´t much stores with medical stuff.." Nami sadly shaked her had. "We have nothing for him.."

The dark-skinned Indian carefully sat down besides his sick friend, sighing. Chopper whined quietly, not liking his friend had to suffer like that. He sat down besides the boy, as a bodyguard, not letting anyone foreign touch him.

Silence followed, no one knew what to say in a moment like that. The five sat on their sleeping bags, looking with blank expressions into the distance.

"I will cook us more soup, I guess we all need it." Sanji commented, breaking the tensed silence. He lit his cigarette before he got back to his pot, preparing meal.

_Somewhere else, not too far away from them_:

"Stupid, good-for-nothing, little ass. Why does he have to be sick now? Can´t he die after we have this item boss wants so badly? Fuck!" the one person cursed, having watched the little group from the distance with a spyglass.

"Don´t lose your nerve now, that brat is resistent, he´ll make it." the other reassured him.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure. And if not, I´ll make him and his little friends pay!"

Luffy woke up two more times, not feeling or looking any better despite many hot soups. His friends worry grew and grew, but they couldn´t do a thing without any medicine. At that time, in 1897, the medical stuff was much worse than today and a simple flu could end fatal.

And when the warm sunbeams of the next day woke them, they noticed before opening their eyes, only at the coughing fit of Luffy, that he still wasn´t any better. Quite contrary to that: he was even doing worse.

Luffy was pale, just his cheeks were flushed from his fever and he was hot, very hot. But still Nami had no idea what kind of sickness he could had.

"Hey, Lu." Nami came to him as he was awake. He shivered at the all too familar nickname he was given in the past... as Nami spoke again, he forgot about his daydream for a moment, trying to listen to his friend.

"Do you need anything?" Luffy negated it. "Okay. Then can you tell me exactly where it hurts?" he nodded slowly.

He cleared his wound throat. "My whole body feels weak and it´s so hot..my head and my throat hurt, but the main part that hurts is my chest. I´ve never felt such a strange pain in the chest before.." he coughed loudly. Nami bit her lower lip. That coughing doesn´t sound so good...

"Okay, Luffy, I might have an idea what kind of sickness it could be...you say your chest hurts..that could be..."

"WHAT? PNEUMONIA?" Usopp almost yelled. "Shhhh, not so loud, he is back to sleep at the moment! Don´t wake him up!" Nami put her hands onto the Indian´s mouth to make him shut up which worked, needless to say.

"That´s not good. Pneumonia is said to be... fatal...shit!" Sanji cursed, at once litting a new cigarette. He and the others had dark circles around the eyes because of a more or less sleepless night.

"Don´t say such things! Luffy will make it!" Nami snapped annoyed, making Sanji apologize.

"And what do we do? That hout soups don´t help much, he needs professional help from a real doctor!" Zoro whispered. They stood a few meters away from the sick one, not wanting to wake him up. After all, he needed every little energy he got.

A tensed silence filled the air.

"So? I´m waiting for an answer! We don´t have so much time left, you know!" the twenty-years-old barked madly at the others.

"Hell, we don´t know! What can we do for him, huh? The next city is miles away from here, we´ll never reach in time!" Sanji, finally losing the little rest of his patience, yelled at his brother.

"Who knows? It´s the only thing we can do! Do you have any better ideas?" Zoro, facing his younger brother directly now, grumbled loudly.

"Guys, QUIT IT! THAT´S THE WRONG WAY TO DISCUSS THAT! THAT LEADS TO NOTHING!" Nami yelled with tears in her eyes. Zoro and Sanji at once let go of each other, stepping back.

"Nami´s right, bro´s. Let´s talk in a calm and prudential way how to resolve the problem." Franky stepped between the two, cutting off the death glare they sent each other.

Nami wiped her tears away. "We are watched from all sides! What are we going to do now? We wanted to flee from them, but how with Luffy being sick?" she asked.

Usopp gulped. "I don´t know, what if these guys are a real danger? We don´t know them, neither what they want from us! Or if they have wapons!"

Sanji nodded. "Usopp´s right. And I have a bad feeling about these guy...or guys, depends on how many there are. From my point of view the best thing to do now is searching for a save place. Away from them."

There was a long pause. Everyone knew the blond cook was right, but moving Luffy in his condition? But what choice did they have? Waiting for being shot to death of kidnapped by these/those stranger/s? No!

"Sanji" Zoro suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, "I don´t think that´ll happen often, but this time I agree with you."

No sooner said than done, the same evening they packed their things and drove eastwards, hoping to get rid of the stalker.

Luffy was informed, he didn´t mind, and laid on one of the dogsleds, driven by Nami. Her stuff was all on Sanji´s.

The friends soon arrived a nice place to rest for the night, surrounded by trees, mountains and rocks.

Sadly, Luffy still wasn´t better. Hif friends were at a loss, not knowing how to help him.

They had lit a fire, warming themselves. Sure, they knew, now the stranger would find them easily again, but they couldn´t afford a cold night without dinner with Luffy, despites that, they would freeze to death without some warmth.

"I feel so uncomfortable." Franky whispered to the others, feeling those stupid eyes on his back again. "I thought we got rid of them!"

"We didn´t, so it seems. I think we have to fight and beat him or them. Then the problem is solved." Zoro said calmly, leaning back on a small rock behind him.

"Oh Zoro, don´t always think so brutal. We have no chance if they attack from behind with guns." Usopp reminded his green-haired friend who snorted at the answer.

"Sis´and bro ´s, we have a bigger problem than these stalker." Franky reminded them. "Luffy is seriously sick. The truth: He won´t make it without medicine. That antibiotic doesn´t help anything."

"Don´t talk crap!" Usopp almost yelled. "Don´t say such things! Luffy doesn´t die! What are we going to do without him?"

"Drat!" Sanji didn´t know what to say, so he began cursing wildly. They really were up to their necks in deep shit. The next town was miles away...

"Hold on, Luffy! We are on our way to a town..." Nami whispered to herself, as if to assure that everything will be fine.

They all were thinking the same, but no one dared to speak it out loud: We won´t be there in time.

They thought Luffy was sleeping peacefully, but he was listening to everything they said, feeling responsible for their stress with him and the strangers.

He turned around and coughed. Every cough, even every breath he took hurt very bad, he almost couldn´t stand this pain anymore. ´I don´t want to die so soon...I promised him...and I failed. I wasn´t even able to keep his hat, it´s still missing...damn. Is this the end..?´

"Cheer up, minna. Luffy is strong, he will make it!" Franky cracked a small smile, although he didn´t feel oh-so-super when he said that. His friends knew it wasn´t true what he said, but the nakama decided not to give up so easily. After all, hope is the last thing to die. So they went on hoping.

"Why did he had to go searching for this hat?" Usopp sobbed, petting the also sad Chopper. "You know why. It his his treasure." Nami commented soundlessy.

"Why did his hat go missing? Why did this all has to happen?" Usopp, completely ignoring her, shrieked.

"Oi, oi, take it easy. That won´t make him healthy." Sanji gently put a hand onto the Indian´s trembling shoulder who went on sobbing. Franky turned his head around, scanning the area, hoping to finally get to see the stalker, but no one was there to be seen. So it seemed.

Now the strawhat boy couldn´t take it anymore. He had silently watched his friends, not wanting to see them so sad and worried. So nervous all the time.

"Minna." he caught everyone´s attention.

"Luffy! How do you feel? Do you need something?" Nami instantly went into her motherly state, but the same moment she asked those things, she realized Luffy had something to tell. Something they all have been wanting to hear for long.

"I´m sorry." His friends rose an eyebrow. "What?" Sanji carefully asked, sitting down besides sick one.

"I´m sorry. This is all my fault." he talked in a hoarse voice. Now everyone of his nakama was by his side, watching and listening carefully. Luffy was panting hard.

"No no no. Don´t apologize. What happened, happened. And you surely didn´t want to break in on that lake, ne?" Nami smiled a little. "Don´t talk, you have to save your little energy." she gently stroke his dark, sweaty hair.

"No, not only that..these guys who are following us...I think I know who they are.." he coughed.

His friends´ jaw hit the frozen ground. "What? So we were right!" Sanji gasped. "They are after you, aren´t they?"

Luffy slowly nodded.

"I-I can´t believe it..who are them? And how many are there, watching us at the moment?" Nami desperately wanted to know.

"And what do they want from you?" Usopp was shocked to say the least. Of course, he and the others already had expected something like this, but to actually hear it from Luffy himself...

Luffy´s pale lip trembled. "I know it´s my fault you have been observed all time. I apologize." he again cleared his throat, slowly and unsurely sitting up to explain better.

No one stopped him, they were all too shocked.

"I also apologize for being so stubborn, not wanting you to help me..." he sighed deeply, " Now I´ll explain you everything."

His friends listened carefully as he finally started to tell of his past.

_Near Seattle - ten years before _

"_Mum! Dad!" a little boy cried at the scene before him. His whole house was burning and no one who could help him and his family. The house was near the forest, miles away from the city._

_Moments before everything was good, but from the one moment to the next the situation changed into an awful one. It was the middle of the night, and suddenly Luffy woke up just to realize their house was burning. He jumped out of bed, barely getting any oxigen inhaled in his screaming lungs, ran into the room of his mum, Nayeli, and his dad, Shanks. But he found a real horror there: His mother laid with a blank expression in their bed, stabbed to death. His father was nowhere to found. _

_Luffy of course didn´t want to believe all of what he saw, running without thinking how dangerous it was, downstairs, searching for his dad. He didn´t even understand what was going on and who could do such terrible things to them._

_"DAD!" he screamed when he saw his red-haired father laying between the burning rest of their funiture, bleeding and barely conscious. He immediately ran towards him. _

_"Dad! Dad! Say something, anything, please!" Luffy sobbed, bending down besides his hurt father. Adressed man cracked a smile at his son. _

_"Luffy...don´t cry. It makes me sad to see you cry.." he murmured, not able to stand or even sit up._

_"But papa...you´re hurt and mum..." he paused, chocking, " she is dead!" _

_"Sshshs...listen carefully to what I have to say you now, Luffy." the red-haired man, a bloody face, lifted his left arm. The man´s right arm wasn´t there anymore, blood came from his shoulder. He gently stroke his little boy´s head, trying to calm him. Luffy lifted his head, looking him directly into the eyes to show him that he was listening._

_"You have to live, no matter what. So, get out of here as soon as possible and make a run for it, never looking back. You run to the town and call for help there, do you understand?" he asked in a gentle voice. _

_"No! I won´t let you here alone! I don´t want to loose you too!" he screamed, tears streaming down his little cheeks. He had a small cut underneath his left eye, but he ignored it completely._

_"Hey, don´t cry, you´re a man, ne? And you have to be strong now and leave us behind. You should live." he smiled, putting his precious strawhat onto Luffy´s small head._

_"Live for me and mum. Live your own life, make true friends and have many adventures, you hear me? Go to Alaska and find your biggest treasure there, like I did!" _

_"Dad..." Luffy cried without stopping. His little trembling hands were on the strawhat he got from his father._

_" And if you get sad, always remember: Mum and I, we won´t die. Never. We´ll live forever in your heart and your memory." he closed his eyes, taking the last, deep breath in his life and yelled with the little rest of his energy:_

_"Don´t give your life up, never! We are so proud of you! And now, run away, Luffy, don´t let them catch you, you hear me?" _

_Then the rest of the burning wall was blasted away, a few silhouetten came into sight, laughing. "And this is the end of the great great Akagamie Shanks! You see what happens if you don´t work with us together! Say goodbye to life!" A gunshot was heard, taking Shanks life away. Luffy´s eyes widened and he began to scream. _

_"NOOO!" _

_The cruel persons, one with a strange hook instead of a hand, looked at the little crying boy whose life they had destroyed with this action. Before they could move or decide what to do with him, the seven-years-old stood up and began to run. Just away from his house. Away from the cruel murderer of his mother and father. Away from this hell._

_"Hee hee. Don´t worry, little boy, we won´t kill you. Not yet. Not before you have told us Shanks little secret." one of the men chuckled. He was tall and didn´t have all of his teeth anymore which made him looking even more cruel and scary. The man besides him snorted. _

_"We´ll catch this boy and find out about that. He´ll spill the beans, don´t worry boss." _

_"I know. This treasure is as good as mine, after all these years of waiting..."_

_Luffy was, as soon as he reached Seattle, completely ignored by the people. It appeared that they didn´t care for other people´s business, not wanting to get involved into some dirty business. Who knows where this boy came from? They pretended: We haven´t seen or heard this boy. He wasn´t here._

_So the poor seven-years-old didn´t find anyone who would´ve helped him. He laid himself into a small box in a dark narrow street, crying himself to sleep. _

_The next day was cool and cloudy, Luffy awoke with an empty stomach. And a person besides him. _

_When he realized he wasn´t alone, he shrieked and flinched away, starting to cry again. Nearby the person was a female dog standing, watching with careful eyes. She was pregnant and had a blue nose._

_"Don´t kill me!" he cried, closing his eyes, only to open them again in surprise and shock as the other, a teen, hugged him all of sudden. Luffy screamed. _

_"Don´t touch me! Lemme go!" but the other was stronger, didn´t let go of him. _

_"Hey hey there little guy. Calm down, I won´t hurt you." The teen, twelve years old, gently spoke, calming the sobbing Luffy down. The younger of the two soon relaxed and cried himself out on the warm shoulder of the other._

_The teen, his name was Ace, stayed with the seven-years old after he had heard what had happened to Luffy. _

_Both of them were orphans, living from now on together on the street and Luffy could finally enjoy life again after that terrible incident. Sure he had nightmares of that night and he still didn´t want to believe what had happened, but Ace always helped him. _

_Soon the two became the best friends and then they got a strong bond, the strongest possible: The became brothers._

End of flashback

"That´s so horrible! I can´t believe you didn´t tell us earlier!" Nami gasped in shock. The other agreed.

"Luffy, you don´t have to carry such a heavy burden on your shoulders all alone. Let us help you" Sanji spoke, breathing out his smoke.

The other three also wanted to say something, but the strawhat teen was faster.

" I- I´m not ready yet." he was trembling all over his sweaty body. His friends shut up, letting him speak again.

"When I turned sixteen, Ace and me were kidnapped. Until that, both of us still have been living on the street with our two dogs, Chopper was mine and Skip, Ace´s dog, but that day changed our life completely. I immediately recognized them: They were the murderer who had killed my parents. I hated and still do them so much.

The strange men wanted me to tell them some secret, but I didn´t know what they wanted to hear from me, my father never has told me this secret. They were so disappointed and furious that they killed Ace, who was taken as a witness so that he wouldn´t run to the police and tell them."

His body wouldn´t stop shivering after that awful memories he had remembered. Nami at once hugged him to comfort the teen.

"A-and then, I could run away from them. I and Chopper, my dog Ace gave me years before, and again run away. I decided it would be the best thing to do, just to make my father´s last wish come true. So I bought a dogsled and stuff I need to survive here from the money I´ve stolen from my kidnapper and went as fast as possible to the harbour in Seattle where we´ve met." he took a deep breath, inhaling deeply, hoping the pain in his lungs would stop.

"Holy shit..." was all Sanji could say.

"And is that guy that observes us the same who kidnapped you and your brother...?" Zoro asked, shocked.

"I´m afraid he is...his name is Crocodile. He also had killed Alvida.."

His nakama´s eyes widened even more, if that´s even possible. Now they were completely speechless.

"He follows me..but I still don´t know why..." he gulped.

"Oh Luffy...I feel so sorry for you..." Usopp murmured.

Nami hugged the half-Indian again, not wanting to believe what she had heard...

plus, she felt Luffy´s fever rising again...

**Sorry, sorry Luffy! I´m so cruel.**

**What do you think of it? What secret are Crocodile and the other after? And who do you think is the other tall man, the big boss of Crocodile? Make guesses, please! **

**Review, please ;D**

**Until next time :)**


	17. An unexpected twist

**Hi everyone! Thanks a lot to the two who reviewed ;D **

**DarkAndStormyNight and Linhae! You two are great ; ) *hugs both of them* and thanks for the guesses! Linhae and DarkAndStormyNight weren´t bad :D Both of you were right with one of your two guesses, but which one I won´t tell ;) but you´ll find out soon!**

**To Linhae´s question: Yes, very, very soon :) **

**Enjoy, please ;D**

**Disclaimer: I-do-not-own-one-piece (I wish I would^^)**

**...**

**Chapter 17 - An unexpected twist**

The small group was traveling for two days now. They had to move because of other gold diggers who where near them and the five didn´t want to risk a fight with Luffy sick.

Now they decided to stay there, a nice place to rest with a great view of the mountains all around them. But at the moment they really didn´t care about that. They had other things to worry about.

It was late afternoon, everyone was sitting around a small fire they had lit.

"So, what now? We got rid of the other gold diggers successfully, but what about Luffy-bro? This is so unsupa, really!" Franky broke the tensed silence around them.

"I dunno. I really have no idea." Nami spoke almost motionless, her glance at the fire. The orange-haired girl and the others haven´t talked about Luffy´s past, nor about what to do now. His condition was getting worse and there was no chance for him to survive pneumonia. Even if they were in a city with a skilled doctor, his chance to survive that sickness was almost at zero. At that time, they barely knew anything about sicknesses like pneumonia. Hell, they couldn´t even proberly heal a simple influenza! All of them knew that, probably Luffy too.

Mentioned person laid in his sleeping bag, fulshed cheeks, eyes closed of exhaustion. He found it unbeliveable hard to breathe and he had to cough every second time he inhaled. His fever was dangerously high.

The little group was hoping for a miracle, they wouldn´t stop hoping. Everyday they awoke the first thing they did was checking up on Luffy, begging innerly he was jumping happily around and annoy the hell out of them. But everytime their hopes got shattered: Luffy still laid unmoved and coughing in his ´bed´, looking more death than alive.

And from than on they all knew: It was only a matter of time until...but the five tried not to think about that. They pushed it into the back of their heads.

"Man, this sucks...I don´t want...want that to happen...if we could only help him.." Usopp drifted off, his gaze wandering slowly into the distance.

The others sighed sad. Chopper was whining now and then, it seemed the little dog knew exactly what was going on. Laying besides his best friend, the fluffy husky made sure everything around the strawhat boy was okay.

Suddenly, a hoarse voice was heard, it was very quiet but the nakama were able to make it out.

"I wanna live... " it was almost a whisper, but it sounded sad, very sad. "I wanna be..free.." he added, his friends didn´t hear.

Nami immediately turned her pair of brown eyes at the sick one, and so did the other four. "Hey there. Don´t say such things, of course you´ll live." she spoke softly.

Her voice was shivering. All of them knew she was lying which caused a heart wrenched pain in them.

"I promised it." Luffy spoke again, this time a little louder. He opened his eyes, but all he saw was a blurry bunch of people around him, his nakama. " I promised Shanks"

Sanji gulped. It was hard to keep the tears in that desperately tried to came out.

Even Zoro found it hard not to cry. But he couldn´t help it, a small sob escaped his mouth.

Franky and Usopp started to cry now, holding each other in arms. "C´mon Usopp-bro..."

"I don´t wanna die..." the seventeen-years-old teen sobbed. It´s not like he was scared of death itself, but he didn´t want to let his precious nakama he found only moments ago to leave behind. The thing was, he didn´t want to leave them, his knew family. And seeing them cry of him made him even sadder.

Each of the five thought about something to comfort the other, but they just couldn´t find the right words.

"Everything went so wrong.." Nami whispered, tears rolling down her cold cheeks. "A few days ago, at the begin of our journey, everything was just perfect and then these awful things started to happen...and now this.." she put her hands to her mouth, trying to hide the sadness that came out as tears.

"Guys...if I won´t be able to keep my promise...please do it for me." he chocked, coughing. His nakama´s eyes widened.

"H-hey, don´t say such things! You´ll make it, won´t you?" Usopp panicked. But then he shut his mouth, knowing he wouldn´t get an answer. He then laughed a humorless laugh, realizing how lame that just sound. Of course it was useless, hopeless.

"We need a miracle." Sanji spoke in a whisper.

No one answered although they all hoped for it to happen.

Luffy coughed again, still waiting for an answer. " You promise me two things..*cough*: Please make my promise come true.., " he paused, turning his head so that he could his nakama directly into the eyes. It was a pleading glance, yet determinded. " and..go on without me..go on and live my life for me." these words were just soft whispers, yet they were so powerful.

That second part let all of them froze in their places.

"Luffy..." Zoro started, but said person had already closed his eyes. Immediately all of the five shot up in shock. "Luffy!"

They all paled as adressed one didn´t moved a single centimeter. "No..." Usopp´s eyes lost all live, he stumbled back into the snow.

"Hey, hey, calm down. He´s just sleeping." Nami spoke up, making her friends sigh in relief. But it wasn´t over yet. Not yet.

The end was so near...

Usopp shaked his head, getting rid of these thought. Slowly he stood up, sighing deeply, wiping his tears away.

He wasn´t ready to loose another friend, another precious person..not again. And he could tell by the look of his friends faces: No one of them wanted to.

It was deadly silent for a while. Then, Sanji asked carefully. "How long time does he have left...?" His expression was blank and his voice not steady as usual. But no one could blame him, really. They all felt the same pain inside of them..

Nami slowly lifted her head. "I don´t know. Maybe a few days. Maybe...a few...hours.." again she sobbed. "Damn, stop asking me those questions, I don´t know! I am no fucking doctor!" She suddenly rose her voice, tears finding their was down the eighteen-years-old cheeks. She wasn´t angry at Sanji or the others, not at Luffy, nor at the other gold digger. She was just angry at herself, angry that they couldn´t help their friend, angry to live in a time where the medical development was very bad, you got even more sick after the doctor´s visit who didn´t even desinfect his medical items, so that you better stay at home, waiting for yourself to die slowly and painful...but Nami certanly didn´t want that to happen to Luffy. Honestly, he didn´t deserve that. Not at all. No one did.

" What had he done to die like this? Can anyone out there tell me? Why?" Nami shouted, burst out into tears. "It´s..it´s not fair!"

"Nami..." First time ever, Sanji called his cousin by her real name, without any ´-darling´ or ´-san´ added, showing this was a real serious situation. "Nami, please calm down. That doesn´t help anything." he spoke slowly, gulping his own anger and sorrow down. He, no, not just Sanji, all of them knew how the orange-haired felt: They felt the same strange, uncomfortable feeling in them growing, wanting to be shout out.

The cook softly took his crying cousin into his arms, calming the shivering girl a bit. While he was standing there, Nami in his arms, he hold her tight onto himself, maybe so that he himself would be able to calm a little. Luffy was almost like a little brother, one, he never had. Luffy gave him one more chance to feel strong and able to protect his ´brother´, but this idea of the cook´s was brutal shattered into small, never repair able pieces.

When they first met Luffy, this guy seemed so bright and happy, even after this all happened to him. He brought his own family, Zoro and Nami, closer together, and now that Usopp and Franky started travelling with them, their bond seemed so strong, nothing could ever break it. But Luffy was dying, and with him their strong bond between all of them.

Zoro clenched his fists. "Damn!" he grumbled. ´Again, someone dies in front of your eyes...again, another life is slowly fading away, fading through your fingers and you just stand there, watching. You only have to grab it, grab it and hold it as strong as you can, but again, you stand there, not moving...´ A small, evil voice echoed through the twenty-years-old head, rememering him of painful memories. A picture of his little sister was seen by his inner eyes, how she laid there, dead. Is Luffy going to look like that? So dead, emotionless, pale, unmoving? He couldn´t imagine. And he really didn´t want to.

Franky´s hands shivered. Not because of the coldness around them, but at the fear, yes he was scared. Scared that the death would take another nakama away, like his father who was shot to death by some dirty men who didn´t want to pay for their trip over the water. A short, loud bang, and his whole life had changed. Ruined. It had happened so fast, there was no time for saying goodbye. When this happened, Franky was just eighteen, left all alone til now, til he met these fantastic comrades. And he couldn´t take another painful loss. When the thirtysix-years-old man thought about that, his fear grew, slowly coming nearer, until Franky got the strange and painful feeling, his fear was strangling him without mercy. He chocked, gulping his tears back down.

The Indian was sitting near the strawhat owner, watching him in his sleep. Or more in his fight against death. To tell the truth, Usopp was searching for someone he could blame. He didn´t even know why, he just needed someone he could curse why that happened. To make him feel better, to lift that heavy burden off of his shoulders. Just the moment the long-nosed thought he found the answer who to blame, a sudden hit stroke him and he ended up blaming it all on himself. The only thing he was able to think of now. And suddenly, he remembered back to the time with his ´ owner´, Buggy who always told him if something went wrong, it was the Indian´s fault.

Luffy and the others had beaten him up, showing no mercy just like the cruel man hadn´t shown any in those years he used Usopp as a slave. Looking down at the Indian, thinking he, a gold digger, was something better.

But Luffy told him once, he would never forget it, that every human, no matter from what country they were, which skin or hair colour they haid, no matter what culture or language they had, was equal. Was at the same level. There were no ´best´ kinds of human, no ´differences´. They were all like each other. Not less precious as others.

That was all a big, dirty lie Buggy believed in.

And Usopp learned it from Luffy, his friend who was about to die. But, even if the worst case would come true (he truly hoped that would never ever happen) he would tell every human what his half-Indian friend told him about that. Tell everyone that all human deserved the same respect to kill that damned racism, that the human could finally live together in peace, that nothing like the horrible bloody attack at his tribe would happen again.

He sighed, wiping a few escaped tears away. What should we do without you...?

That night, they couldn´t find a way to go to sleep. And that´s when the five decided to help Luffy as best as they could.

So the nakama sat themselves around their sick and barely able to breathe friend and talked to him, watching him, reassuring him.

At least he should ..die not alone. Knowing that there were people that were with him, praying for him.

The friends had a really bad feeling, of course, but kept hoping and some of them praying. And Luffy himself was more or less awake the whole time, and brought a small smile to his nakama´s lips by smiling a true smile himself.

And Nami, Zoro, Franky, Usopp and Sanji all promised to themselves, as the same sentece kept echoing through their heads, they would make Luffy´s last wishes come true: _Go on and live my life for me._

_**...**_

"How can you sleep at a time like that?" Nami shouted with all of her might at the sleeping Franky. Once the eighteen-years-old voice had come to his ears, the man shot up, looking confused around himself.

"Wha-wha..?" he asked confused, but he immediately noticed the sad mood around them. Nami was crying. Usopp was crying. Chopper was whining. Zoro and his younger brother fought with the tears.

Then he knew it: It was too late for the strawhat boy. It had happened. And then he also began to cry.

They all then formed a circle around the sleeping bag of the half-Indian, sniffling, sobbing, red eyes focusing at the pale body of Luffy.

Luffy himself had stopped breathing minutes before, not being able to take another breath. His lungs had hurt like hell, his head had spun and he had felt so exhausted, too exhausted to breathe anymore. And when his final breathe came, he was holding Nami´s and Usopp´s hands who where half-asleep, but at once fully awake when they noticed. All of the teenager´s rest strenght left him and his weak grip on the girl and the Indian loosened.

"Luffy, no... please don´t leave us like that..."

But the boy reminded silent.

And when they wanted to take a step forwards to maybe do a mouth-to-mouth or something, _anything_ to maybe bring him back to live, a snow storm began. It was so strong that, plus sorrow, heart pain, and exhaustion finally took over and the remainded five collapsed onto the snow, including a sad to no end Chopper.

**...**

What was that..? He felt so warm, so comforted, so...it felt so familiar to him. And he had a good feeling suddenly, all pain of earlier blasted away like a rocket, far away and never returning. But where was he..? And what about the others and...Luffy? Was it all just a horrible nightmare?

Usopp slowly opened his eyes and found himself all alone, to his surprise, in a...tipi..? Wtf..? Was he dead or something? He remembered a sudden blizzard like storm taking him away into the realm of sleep...or was it death?

The long nosed Indian decided it was no use to think about it, that wouldn´t lead to any answers. So he had to go around and find the others...

When he took a look out of the big tent, he found himself surrounded by tipis and...Indians.

Usopp slowly stepped out into the snow, not believing his eyes. And when a sudden loud and clear "Yohohohohohooo~~!" reached his ears, he turned around as fast as possible, seeing Brooke, an old Indian with a huge afro (that was surprisingly still black instead of grey) in front of him.

"B-B-Brooke-san..! You are...whatwhatwhat.." he stuttered around completely taken aback, before he eventually jumped into his friends arms, a cry of joy realesing.

"Yoohohoh~! Usopp-san, you are alive! I´m so happy! We all thought you died!" (Of course they talked in their Indian language).

"I-I made it back! I-I thought I would never see you all again...!" Then his eye twitched and he looked up (Brooke was at least two meters tall) with big eyes.

"I-I really wanna see the others, too, but...but can you tell me what happened? And..do you know where my friends are...?" he wanted to know.

Before the older Indian could answer, Usopp began to speak again. "A-and...could you take a look at my friend, he´s really sick and maybe you can help h-"

Brooke laid a hand over his buddie´s mouth. "Yohoh! You haven´t changed a bit! But come on, I´ll show you something over there!" And Brooke lead his younger friend to another huge tipi, Brookes own one, where the two quickly entered.

"USOPP!" Nami sqeacked and quickly hugged her friend.

"Woof, woof!" Chopper barked happily with his tail, licking the Indian´s hands.

"Longnose-brother! How SUPA!" Franky went into a really embarrassing position and a small ´Yohoho!´ escaped Brooke´s mouth who could speak English.

"Hey, there!" Sanji smiled warmly at him.

"G-guys..! You´re all here? A-are you okay..?" Usopp stuttered, happy about the fact he was finally back home and his nakama were healthy, but he still was sad about the fact, one of these precious nakama wasn´t here...and would never have the chance to see his family...

"Finally you´re awake. Took you long enough. You missed something important." Zoro smirked, and before the irritated Indian could ask something, the swordsman stepped aside, releasing a very unexpected view.

Usopp´s eyes widened so much the others thought the Indian´s eyes are going to fall out every second. A nice little ´bang´ was heard when his jaw literally felt kissing the ground, he was so surprised by this.

"L-LUFFY!" He again cried loudly and very happily, hugging the other teen who laid in nice warm and fluffy pelts, grinning from ear to ear.

_**...**_

**Another chappie done :) **

**I hope it was okay^^! Was that too much describing of the situation with Luffy sick? What do you think? ;D Please tell me =) **

**Until next time, Ja ne ;DD**


	18. Wesecahnay

**Hey everyone who reads this fic ;) **

**Thanks a lot to DarkAndStormyNight and Linhae for your amazing reviews! :D**

**DarkAndStormyNight: No no, not Luffy^^ I hope your questions will be answered in this chapter :)**

**Linhae: Haha xD sorry^^ but don´t worry, I won´t kill him :) thank you *blushes* :D**

**I´m really glad you enjoyed it this far, thanks again :))**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, just the plot.**

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

**Chapter 18 - Wesecahnay**

"LUFFY! YOU ARE ALIVE!" Usopp cried, jumping onto the other teenager.

"Shishishi~! Of course, baka! I won´t die that easil- *cough, cough*" Luffy was cut off by a small coughing fit. Usopp frowned, letting go of his friend, turning to Brooke.

"Hey, is he really going to be okay?"

"Don´t worry, Usopp-san, he is. All he has to do is resting a bit and everything will be fine." The old man responded. He had, which was very odd for an Indian, a huge black afro. That was the first thing Zoro and the others had noticed when they first saw him. The second was the old Indian looked more dead than alive. He had a dark skin and sunglasses which made the eyes invisible for the others.

Usopp sighed relieved and poked his friend onto the head. "You really really scared me back there. Don´t do that again, k?" he sobbed.

"Us" Nami stated, making the Indian blink. "What?"

"You scared us back there." Nami smirked at Luffy and mentioned one gulped, knowing what was coming now. "You owe me at least 57 $!"

"NANI? I don´t have so much money left!" Luffy babbled in panic with wide eyes, making Sanji, Nami and Brooke burst into laugher.

"Yohoho~! What a mean tactic to earn money! Excuse me, would you show me your panties?" he asked politely, grinning to Nami. Said girl´s eye twitched and the next thing Brooke saw were a few stars instead of sexy panties. But he quickly recovered from that kick of Nami and stood up, laughing.

"Yohohohoho~! Such a powerful young lady! How scary!"

Sanji grumbled something only Nami understood, and she chuckled at the blond cook´s jealousy.

"Who exactly are you?" Nami asked suspectly. Brooke smiled at her.

"I´m Brooke, the medicine man of this tribe. I´m the oldest one here, 111 years old to be exact." he smiled somewhat proudly.

Sanji almost gulped down his own cigarette. Zoro´s eyes widened as big as plates, Nami´s jaw went kissing the ground, Franky gulped a SUPA and Luffy gasped in awe.

"REALLY? SUGEE!" he cried with stars shining in his eyes. " So old! How can you still be alive?"

"Yohoho~! I´m a medicine man, after all, don´t forget that!" Brooke respond happily.

Nami and her cousins at once realized how disrespectful they were and bowed ashaimed in front of the medicine man. "Gomen nasai!" the shouted in unison.

Brooke only laughed it off. "Never mind, yohoho!" Luffy joined in the laugher, making Zoro and co. feel uneasy.

"Ne, ossan, you saved my ass, right?" Luffy asked innocent. The orange-haired-girl hissed at the half-Indian, telling him to be more polite. Brooke laughed and nodded.

"Hai, you were deadly sick. To tell the truth, your heart had already stopped." the medicine man explained in a calm tone.

"S-so he was already d-d-dead..?" the eighteen-years old asked shocked. Brooke only nodded. Luffy was at a loss of words, completely speechless.

"How did you manage...?" Zoro frowned, not finishing his sentence. But the old Indian understood what the young man wanted to know, and answered:

"That is what I had to do. Besides, it wasn´t just me who brought him back. He wasn´t supposed to die yet, that´s what they decided."

"Who decided?" Franky asked suspicious.

"The spirits." he merely answered, leaving them even more confused. Only Luffy seemed to understand a bit and didn´t ask more questions.

Usopp stared blankly at the ground. Now he was finally back at home, after so many years. It almost seemed like a dream, so unreal. Was that why he couldn´t be as happy as he should be? Or ´cause he would have to leave his friends? They would go when Luffy was healthy again, searching for more gold. He wouldn´t come with them now. Now that the Indian found what he had lost many years ago. His family.

He sighed deeply. But...

He turned his head to look at each of his nakama. Nami, raising a brow at the old Indian, there was Sanji, starting a fight with his brother who had a red face like a tomato, yelling at the cook, there was Luffy, the half Indian, who couldn´t stop himself from giggling like he was completely insane and Franky the capitan, who was busy with making another strange pose of his.

...weren´t they his family, too?

These thoughts were mixed with the worry about the creepy men that observed them not too long ago. Did they still watch them? Maybe right now, at the moment..?

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a special old man standing behind him, tipping the younger one on the shoulder.

"Uhm, Usopp-san, don´t you want to see the others? They really missed you, you know" Brooke reminded him.

"You are right!" Usopp slapped his forehead, dashing out of the tipi in less than a blink of an eye.

"Where..?" Zoro stopped in his movements, looking at the dust cloud Usopp caused. Brooke smiled, gesturing to follow him. "Why don´t you come with me? I think there are some of us who wants to get to know you guys"

The others looked at each other. Nami shrugged and nodded finally, following the old Indian. Luffy quickly put some more clothes on and went the same way, so did Sanji, Franky and Zoro.

"Say, Brooke, how did you find us back then?" Nami asked curiously. She and the other four were walking beside the huge man.

Brooke stopped, suddenly a very serious expression on his old face. "I don´t know how to tell you this...well, I think you ask our chief. He´ll explain everything to you."

Nami rose a brow at her friends and followed quietly.

Around them were a lot of tipis and a few women could be seen at the near river, washing clothes, fishing or simply to get some water.

A few of them were very beautiful, Sanji noticed interested.

It was a cool and cloudy weather and a light wind blew. But the children didn´t seem to mind a bit. They played happily with Chopper and the other huskies until the little group came. They stopped and looked with interest at the foreign four.

Luffy smiled carefree at them and got a few smiles back. Nami noticed this and couldn´t help but smile. Luffy was still a happy person, no matter how sad his past was.

"Take good care of the dogs. All above of Chopper, this one. He is very special to me." Luffy said in a language Zoro and the other two didn´t understand. The children however did understand and nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure, leave it to us!" they answered in Indian language and Luffy grinned. "Thanks!"

When Sanji wanted to ask what he told the children, Brooke stopped in front of a nice huge tipi. He gestured them to wait outside and went in.

Two seconds he came out again, telling them to come in. Nami and the other four nodded and went in, one after another. Inside the tipi was a fire burning in the middle, surrounded by fluffy pelts of bears, reindeers and other animals. There were also a few drawings on the walls of the tipi, showing a few animals and more.

The five friends stood unsurely there, not knowing what to do or how to act in front of a chief. Said chief sat on the floor, smoking. He looked up at the foreigners. A few minutes passed by and a tensed atmosphere settled down.

Eventually, the chief told them to sit down, Luffy translated.

Brooke sat beside the chief. He was old, but not as old as Brooke, and had a lot of bracelets around his neck. He was a tall man with grey short hair with a lot of colourful feathers on it. Slowly he reaised his head again, beginning to speak in a surprising strong but cold voice.

Brooke began to translate it into English.

"Welcome to our tribe. My name is Garp. What´s your names?"

"My name is Sanji and I´m a cook." Brooke translated into the language of the tribe. Franky, Nami and Zoro introduced themselves and Garp nodded.

Then, when Luffy was about to open his mouth, Garp interrupted.

"I know you. Your name is Luffy, right? Monkey D. Luffy." The others didn´t understand a single word, Brooke didn´t translate.

"You...knew my mother, didn´t you?" Luffy asked serious. Garp gasped. "Knew? What...is she dead?" the old man rose his voice unintentionally. Luffy didn´t move a single inch and merely nodded. "She was killed ten years ago." he told him motoinless.

Garp tensed. "Who?" he growled and Nami and her cousins sensed something wrong. "Who did it?" he asked again.

"I..don´t know. Our house was burned down and my parents were killed. I don´t even know him! I don´t know why he did this to us! I just know his name: Crocodile." Luffy spoke slowly and dangerous. Garp narrowed his eyes. "Crocodile, huh..? He will pay for that, definitaley..he, and this..."

That caught the half-Indian´s attention and he looked up, into the chief´s old and hard face. "You know him? And who´s the other?"

But the other didn´t answer.

"Nayeli." he murmured, his gaze inspecting Luffy´s face closely. "You look a lot like her, you have her hair, her face..her eyes"

Luffy didn´t know what to say and frowned unsurely at the older man.

"Do you know what the D. in your name is for?" the chief suddenly asked out of the blue, making Luffy blink. "No, I was never told about that."

"It´s from your mother. Her full name was Nayeli Donoma." he murmured.

Luffy smiled a little at that. "Donoma? That´s beautiful"

Sanji rose a brow at the two. What the hell are they talking about? Donnomar? What´s that?

The cook glanced at his cousing and his brother. The two looked back and simply shrugged, signaling him to wait and ask Luffy later about that.

"And I knew you father. Shanks. Shanks Monkey."

"Uh, no, his name was Akagami Shanks." Luffy corrected. Garp shaked his head. "No. He took that name to be more safe. He didn´t want his family to get hurt by those bastards." Again, Luffy was confused. "What? Who?" but his question weren´t answered.

"His real name was Shanks Monkey. Sounds strange, but well, he always laughed about that." the old man´s face lightened a bit, just a bit at almost forgotten memories.

"Is there something I should know?" Luffy carefully asked and earned the chief´s attention. "There´s a lot your parents didn´t tell you, huh?" the other interrogated.

Without waiting for an answer, he went on.

"Your mother, Nayeli Donoma, was my daughter."

Silence pressed down into the tipi. The black-haired teen was completely taken aback by that. "Y-your daughter..? S-so I´m..your grandson?" he stuttered. The chief nodded, his face motionless and his eyes cold. "Where´s my..grandmother?" That was a bad mistake. Garp narrowed his eyes even more, sending hateful glares at the half Indian.

"Huh? What´s wrong? Luffy, what did he say?" Nami asked, but didn´t get a response from her friend. Instead, Brooke quickly explained and the other three listened closely.

"Oh, I see. So that´s how it is." Zoro murmured thoughtfully. Then he leaned forwards to his brother and his cousin. "I think this old guy knows more than he admits." he whispered and the two agreed silently.

"I-I didn´t know about you..I thought my family was dead and-" Luffy was cut off by his grandfather.

"You can go now." he said heartless and pointed towards the exit. Luffy shut his mouth and looked irritated at the old man. "What? But I wanted to ask-"

"Now."

Luffy reminded silent and stood, without another word or glance, up and went out. His friends looked confused at each other and eventually went after him, quickly saying goodbye as polite as possible. When they left and Garp was alone with Brooke, one word could be heard, murmured under Garp´s breathe: Wesecahnay.

"Hey, hey Luffy wait a minute!" Nami said, hurrying to catch up with the other. "What was that about?"

"Nayeli was his daughter."

"Yeah yea, I already know that."

"Why do you ask then?" Luffy rose a brow, looking at her like she was completely stupid.

"Geez, Luffy, I meant: Why did he glare at you like that?" she looked him directly into the eyes.

Luffy looked back a few seconds, then he broke the eyecontact, turning away. "Hell, I don´t know what his problem is either! Maybe because he learned his daughter has died, I don´t know! I´m going to search for Usopp now."

With that, he went away, without turning back. Nami scratched her head. " Okayy.."

"Nami-swan, what are we going to do now?" Sanji asked as gentle as possible. Zoro rolled his eyes. " What are we going to do now?" he copied his younger brother with a high voice. "Seriously Ero-cook, how old are you? Seven?"

Sanji clenched his fists. "Do you wanna fight or something? Asshole."

"What was that? Wannabe cook."

That was the start shoot for their fight. Nami first wanted to stop them, but when she thought about it, she let them fight. Maybe it was good for them, letting all anger and depress out. "Here they go again." Franky commented with a sigh, already knowing their strange fighting habits.

"My, my, the two sure don´t like each other, huh?" a soft female voice asked from behind Nami. She and the blue-haired-man quickly turned around and saw a beautiful dark skinned woman with blue eyes and long black hair.

"My name is Robin. May I ask what your names are?" she asked in a perfect English, surprising Nami a little. But the eighteen-years-old quickly caught herself and told her name.

"These two brawlers are Sanji and Zoro. They are brothers." she pointed towards the two who stopped in their fight. "And this is Franky"

Said one began to speak. "Oi, oi, bro´s, stop for a sec."

Sanji gasped at Robin who blinked. "Ooooh, what a beautiful, gorgeous woman! My name is Sanji." he bent down and kissed Robin´s hand. "So soft hands you have, err-"

"Robin. My name is Nico Robin, my mother was from Spain, my father was an Indian, that´s why I have this name. But here I´m known as Aiyana, that means-"

"Eternal Blossom." Usopp finished the sentence. "Hello you four. How ya doing so far?"

Nami smiled. "Eternal blossom? That´s a beautiful name." she ignored Usopp´s question who didn´t even mind. Luffy stepped besides Usopp.

"Hey Luffy, there you are!" Sanji commented.

"Luffy? Monkey Donoma Luffy?" Robin looked at Luffy, then she smiled a mysterious smile, making Sanji dance his embarrassing noodle dance around her. "Yes, it´s you."

"Wha-? Do you know me, too?" Luffy asked the dark-haired beauty. Robin gestured the others to follow her. "I think I have something for you."

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Where the fuckin´ hell are they? You were supposed to watch them, you useless-"

"Stop right there. Who are you to insult me as you please? We are partner, don´t forget that." Crocodile warned.

"Yeah, yeah! Screw you. You lost them!" his dark voice boomed through the room.

"Don´t worry, we´ll find him again." Crocodile respond calmly.

"I hope that for you, ass" the last part was only a whisper, but Crocodile had heard it. He grumbled something in return and left the room.

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"Here" Robin threw the item towards Luffy who immediately recognized it.

"BOSHI!" he cried happily and hugged it. "Thank you, Robin, you are great!" Adressed woman giggled. "You are welcome, Luffy-san"

"Wow, his hat? Where-" but Nami couldn´t finish the sentence.

"I found it in the river. It looked familiar to me, so I kept it." she answered. "We all knew Shanks."

"That´s right, Usopp told us the story with Nayeli and Shanks." Sanji remembered the others who nodded.

"Robin, we need your help. We wanted to ask the chief, but he seems so..unnearable if you understand what I mean." Nami said. Robin nodded. "Yes, he´s like that since Shanks-san and Nayeli-san went to USA."

"Can you tell us more about that?"

Robin watched the little group in her tent and finally began.

"I will tell you everything I know. But first I want to know why you need my help"

Zoro snorted. "There are a few dipshits who kept following and observing us. It may has something to do with Luffy, but we are not completely sure."

Robin listened carefully. "Hmm..that´s a good reason to ask. I´ll start when I got to know Shanks-san. He saved me twelve years ago when I was sixteen. I was attacked by wolves in the forest and he came out of nowhere and helped me to get away. He brought me back to this tribe, but he didn´t want to be introduced and went away into the forest. I haven´t seen him for a few years since then. But one day we were attacked and he saved us all from the strangers who swore to come back and take revenge. The man said he would get what he wanted, that was for sure.

Shanks got to know Nayeli and when he decided to flee to avoid trouble if the strangers would really come back and Nayeli went with him. Since then, we have never heard anything from them." Robin said.

Nami pouted disappointed. "We already knew most of it.."

"I´m sure chief-san didn´t tell you how we found you, did he?" the twentyeight-years-old asked. Franky frowned, totally forgotten about that fact. "That´s right, he didn´t. But chief-bro was so...you know what I mean, we didn´t want to ask him."

"I understand. Then I´ll tell you. We were observing you."

"WHAT?" the small group, including Usopp, gaped in unison.

"We´re really sorry, but the truth is: We wanted to kill you. We thought you had Usopp as your slave with you and you belonged to Crocodile...but then we realized, Crocodile and a few men were following you silently, so we knew you definately didn´t belong to them. Plus, we recognized Luffy who looks almost the same as Nayeli."

The five friends truly were speechless. "W-wow.." Sanji scratched his head.

"That´s okay, we´re still alive, aren´t we?" Luffy laughed.

Then Zoro suddenly remembered something. "So...the men I found back there...were a few of Crocodile´s men? And your tribe fought against them?"

Robin merely nodded. "Yes. But we fear Crocodile has a lot more of them. And they want something we have now."

The others gulped. So it was just a matter of time until they would meet this Crocodile guy...

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

It was a peaceful night. The friends got an own tipi for them to stay in and most of them were already asleep. That day sure had a few surprises for them!

"Hey Usopp! You still awake?" Luffy carefully asked.

"Yes, I am. I think I´m not able to go back to sleep this night! After all, I´m gonna see my father soon! They said he would come tomorrow or the day after tomorrow back from hunting. I really missed him a lot."

Luffy smiled. "That´s nice for you. I´m sure he doesn´t expect to see you, it´ll be a great surprise for him."

Usopp merely smiled at that. "I´m so happy to be back again.. a lot of them really had grown up! But chief is still the same. Still so grumpy."

"Did you hear? He´s my grandfather." Luffy whispered, surprising the other Indian. "Your grandfather? So he´s Nayeli´s father...that makes sense. No wonder he´s grumpy."

"Yeah.." Luffy murmured in thoughts.

"Hey you two, can you please talk tomorrow? I´m trying to sleep!" Nami hissed. "Sorry." the two answered.

"Can I ask you something Luffy?" she suddenly said.

"Sure." the half-Indian answered. "But I thought you wanted to sleep?" he teased. Nami ´hmphd´ at that.

"Yes, but first I wanted to know something." she grumbled. Luffy giggled. "Okay, go ahead."

"What does your second name mean? Donoma? It´s the second name from your mother, ne?" she asked in a soft whisper.

"Yes. Nayeli Donoma. It means _Sight Of The Sun_." Nam could practically hear the smile out of Luffy´s voice.

"That´s very fitting for you."

Luffy chuckled lightly at that. "Thanks" he paused for a second.

"For my mother, too."

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

"So that´s the plan? I like it, hehehe!" Crocodile rubbed his hands, smirking evilly.

"Of course you do, it was my idea after all."

"Finally, we´ll get what we have been after for so long...!"

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

**Sorry, another cliff hanger! Don´t kill me pls...! What..? You are going to tell Nami...? No..! NO! I still owe her a huge bunch of money..! WAIT A SEC!**

**Well, anyways I hope you liked it :D**

**Please review ;)**


	19. Captured

**Hey everyone :)**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Yeah, poor Garp...but he still has someone: Luffy^^**

**Linhae: Oh, that´s good to hear...^^ Garp is upset because he had learned his only daughter, Nayeli, had died. And that hit him hard.**

**The indians don´t know about his goal. But the others will find out soon^^**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Hehe^^ Franky is supa ;D**

**Thank you very much for those great reviews :DD**

**pls enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece! It all belongs to Oda-sensei!**

**XxxXxxXxxXxxXxxX**

**Chapter 19 - Captured**

A few peaceful weeks went by. The weather was still cold and every now and then it snowed, so Nami noted that it still must be winter. She asked a few of the Indians when the weather will get warmer, but they had only shaked their heads and smiled. They didn´t understand anything the girl tried to ask, so she asked Robin.

Mentioned woman appeared to like them all, not like Garp who was still upset and seemed to be...in thoughts.

The Indian beauty told Nami that spring would come soon. That was good to hear for the girl who liked the sun and the flowers a lot.

Usopp was more than happy, he finally got to meet his father after so long and they both celebrated through the night. It was nice for the others to see their friend like this. Usopp looked so much more freer than ever, and he told them more stories than ever. His father and the others in that tribe like Robin were also glad to have him back. After all, they had expected him to be long dead. Everything seemed perfect.

Franky, Luffy, Sanji, Zoro and Nami were grateful to be able to stay with the Indians. And they no longer had the feeling of being observed, to make it short: they felt very safe and finally could relax. But they all had agreed: They wouldn´t stay forever and if Luffy was fully recovered and they had enough to eat, then they would continue their journey.

They would leave the nice Indians, Brook, Robin to continue for searching of gold.

And Usopp would stay with his father.

This day, the last day before the small group would continue their journey, the weather was more or less sunny. Every now and then a few small clouds would craw over the sky and stop the sun from shining, but most of the times the sun was stronger and shined even through the thin clouds.

A great day to go on a trip for gold searching.

Usopp was with them, of course, not letting them go all on their own where they would easily get lost, even with Nami. Robin went with them.

Only the two of the tribe knew that the small group was planning on leaving the next day. Even Garp didn´t know, and probably didn´t even care.

Luffy had tried so many times to talk to him, his own grandfather, but the old guy didn´t even want to see him. Luffy wasn´t happy about this to say the least. He found out that not all his family was dead, and then his last family member doesn´t even want to see him...it hurt. It hurt a lot. But the half-Indian couldn´t do anything else than waiting for Garp to maybe call for his grandchild by himself. Maybe the old one wanted to see him one day. Garp had to take the first step now, even though Luffy had tried so many times to take it first. But if the old guy finally managed to escape his own pain before he would drown in his sorrow, then maybe the two of them could begin again.

Sanji´s wound had healed nicely the past week and everything that was left was a small scar the cook didn´t really mind. After all, his brother Zoro also had a big scar from fighting a murderer when he was still a kid, so Sanji had always been jealous to not have one. But that had changed now, though Zoro had only rolled his eyes when Sanji had shown his brother his scar, a proud smile wearing.

The air was cold but, as stupid as it may sound, Nami found it tasted great. Not like the stiffy air in the cities with all their smog.

They were traveling for a few hours, always straight to the north along the Yukon River, until they reached an arear where no tree was to be seen for around two hundred metres around them. Instead of trees they were surrounded by the mountains and a few big rocks.

That was when they decided to take a rest.

"It tasted very good, cook-san. You have a talent for that." Robin complimented and Sanji was grateful to hear that and danced in happiness.

"Aaaaw, thanks a lot, my Robin-chwaaaaan~!" he responded and the woman chuckled. Zoro just ignored his idiotic brother and leaned back onto a cold rock to take a quick nap after the meal.

Franky also leaned back onto a rock, but he didn´t want to take a nap. The ex-capitan just enjoyed the beautiful view.

Luffy and Usopp were making fun of Sanji, taking Zoro´s part over and annoyed the hell out of the blond. Luffy imitated the cook´s acions and Usopp acted as if he was a woman whose charm was enough to make Sanji/Luffy dance.

But of course, Sanji couldn´t stand this for long and after a minute he exploded, sending the two into the snow with nice shoeprints in their faces. Chopper watched the whole scene and came to lick Usopp´s and Luffy´s faces off.

"Shishihi~! Stop that, Chopper, ahaha! It´s tickling!" Luffy laughed and stood up and dusted off the snow off his trousers and went after his dog. Usopp chuckled as he watched the little dog jump through the snow with a wagging tail and quickly followed him. The three of them didn´t pay attention to where they were running, they just enjoyed being together for this moment. So they raced throug the deep cold snow, first Chopper who was so little you couldn´t see his legs and stomach, then Usopp and Luffy who laughed while running. It was so much fun!

And finally, after a while, they had to stop and catch their breathe. While they were half laughing, half panting, they noticed Sanji, Zoro, Nami and Robin were no where in sight. The two went silent for once and looked at each other, gulping. Uh oh. That´s bad...

Meanwhile, Sanji noted the sudden silence and turned around to see if he had killed the two jokesters earlier and when he saw, or better didn´t see them anywhere, he couldn´t help but widen his eye in shock. ´Hell, no...´shot through his head and he turned to his cousin and the other two, cursing silently.

"Do you know where the two morons and the dog are?" he asked.

A short pause followed and Nami looked first at Sanji, then to Zoro, then at the snow behind Sanji. Finally she realized the three were gone and she grunted.

"Don´t tell me..." she started but didn´t finish her sentence as she saw the slightly annoyed expression on the cook´s face. "We have to find them, now! They can´t be far away, probably right around the next rock or so" she murmured and stood up, ready to beat the hell outta the two (not Chopper, Nami was animal liberationist) if they found them. "So, if we go now, we´ll find them in no time! C´mon!"

Zoro sighed, not moving a single inch away from his rock. "You want to search for them now? Why don´t we wait a little bit, they´ll probably come back soon. Let them be for a while, after all Luffy and Usopp became good buddies. The two won´t meet for a while after we leave tomorrow. Maybe this is the last day they see each other." he answered calmly, eyes still closed.

Nami watched her cousin carefully and thought about it for a moment before she finally sat back down. She smiled a little as she imagined Usopp and Luffy playing in the snow. "You´re probably right.."

Robin smiled at the two, before she turned to Sanji. "Uhm, cook-san, can I please have something hot to drink?" she asked politely, causing Sanji to smoke hearts with his cigarette and immediately he jumped back to cook a hot coffee for his Robin-chwan.

"Good idea. Can I have something, too? You don´t have a cola, have you?" Franky asked unsurely and Sanji snapped out of his noodle dance mode and turned irritated to the older man.

"A what?" he wanted to know. Franky chuckled slightly.

"Oh, cook-bro...Don´t you know Coca Cola? The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company, a drugstore in Columbus, by John Pemberton, originally as a coca wine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. It was normally invented as a medicine and is sold since 1886. But I don´t care if it heals some diseases or not, I like to trink it just as a normal drink. It tastes great and gives you power!" Franky explained.

Sanji shaked his head. "Yeah, I guess I´ve heard of it in Seattle, but I don´t think it will have a great future. Probably it will be forgotten until next year or so. But I´ll give you some warm tea." Franky complained a little, but eventually shut his mouth and was happy to get something hot.

Although he didn´t agree with the blond cook, he was sure Cola would became very famous and popular in the future. It was just a feeling he had...

"But I hope they will be okay...it´s rough here with all the wolves and the strange men following us..." Nami added, almost in a whisper and more to herself.

"Don´t worry, no one followed us today. The three will be just fine. And they have Chopper with them, ne?" Robin smiled warmly at the younger female who returned the smile and nodded.

A few hundred metres away, near a mountainside with many rocks around the three, Chopper had smelled something and went away like crazy.

The other two at once raced after him and found him between the rocks where it was very cliffy.

"Chopper! Don´t run off like that!" Luffy upbraided his little dog. But then he saw why Chopper ran off and went silent, benting down to a bloody thing in the snow.

Usopp stood besides his friend and copied Luffy. The two gasped and quickly took a good step away from the subject, frowning.

"Eeeh, that´s yucky...how long has it been dead?" Usopp asked, looking at the dead, half-in tatters deer at their feet.

"Dunno." Luffy shrugged. "Probably killed by some hungry wolves."

"But why didn´t they eat more of it? It looks like they had to leave it here suddenly. Look at their spoors around the deer."

Luffy looked at his friend and thought about it for a minute before he finally answered. "Hmmm, perhaps because Chopper came and they were surprised by him? And by us?"

The long-nosed Indian gasped at his friends´ statement and looked around them only to find a couple of hungry eyes watching them. Chopper barked and growled at them. The wolves were about ten feet away and slowly came nearer. Luffy quickly reactet and lifted his dog into his arms. Otherwise the little husky would´ve directly run into them.

"L-L-Luu-Luffy...wh-what should we d-do n-n-now..? They a-are gonna e-eat u-us!" Usopp stuttered in fear and his face turned as pale as the snow. Luffy gulped at the animals and backed away.

"I-I dunno..." he answered. He and Usopp scanned the area, searching for a place to hide. The hungry animals came nearer until one of them tried to bite into Usopp´s leg. Mentioned Indian squeaked and jumped into the air.

"KYAAA! LUFFY, DO SOMETHING!" he screamed in panic at his friend. That was when the half-Indian spotted a cave not far away from them.

"Look, Usopp! Let´s hide over there!" Luffy yelled and made a run for it, and so did the Indian as he saw the cave. "Hurry!"

It was in the big mountain whose mountain side they were on, so it was easy to get there in no time. The two quickly reached it, just to learn the small entrance wasn´t so easy to reach. It was above their heads and they had to climb to enter the cave. When they took a look back in panic, the two saw the wolves finishing their meal of the dead deer. So luckily the five wolves won´t come near as long as they have enough to eat. And luckily that was the case.

But now that cave had caught the two friends´ attention. Luffy, still his growling dog in his arms, looked at Usopp with stars in his eyes and following words:

"Usopp, I smell adventure! Let´s go in!"

Usopp rose a brow at him, then he looked back at the wolves. "Fine" he sighed in defeat. "But you go first, and you have to protect me if there´s a bear or something!"

"Sure!" with that he handed his dog to the Indian who wasn´t so confident if they should really do that. When the long-nosed teen looked closer at the area there, he noticed a lot of stones and rocks had fallen down from the mountain. So falling rocks wasn´t rare here. He gulped and clutched tighter onto the fluffy Chopper.

Then he tried to ignore the eating animals twenty meters away from them and watched Luffy climbing so that his fingers could reach the entrance. In less than a blink of an eye, the half Indian pulled himself up to the small entrance. In fact, it was just about 60 centimeters wide. So not that typical size of a hole or a cave. Luffy didn´t care just as long as he could crawl into it and so he did. It was even more cold inside it and the teen could see his own breath.

"Oi, Luffy! Do you hear me? How is it?" Usopp asked from outside just as Luffy wasn´t to be seen anymore. A little panic was heard in his voice. Luffy turned around, which wasn´t so easy as he thought it would be, seeing the cave wasn´t so much more bigger at the beginning, maybe a meter.

But he managed to turn his body so that his head looked out of the entrance. He smiled like an idiot at his friends. "It´s a bit small, but seems to get bigger if you go more inside. So what are you waiting for? Come in, and bring Chopper with you, I´m sure he´ll like this just as much as you!" with that, he giggled and disappeard from Usopp´s sight back into the small cave. The Indian gaped.

"H-hey, wait! Take Chopper, I can´t climb with him in my arms!" he almost shrieked and Luffy stuck his head and arms out to take the little dog. Chopper was still eyeing the wolves, but as soon as he was set into the cave, the animals outside were already forgotten and he went forwards to explore the foreign area with interest.

Luffy giggled. Chopper was able to stand, but Luffy and Usopp who came crawling like Luffy into the cave were too big to even sit there. So the two had no other choice as crawling on all fours over the cold ground. They had to be careful not to hit their heads at the ceiling.

After a while, Usopp was about to say that they should turn around and return to the others who were probably worrying, the cave got wider and bigger.

Finally the two friends were able to stand and stretched themselves. Then they scanned the cave as good as possible in the dark. Their eyes slowly got used to it and they could see a little better now, but still bad.

They went even deeper into it. "Something about this cave is..." but Usopp didn´t finish his sentence. He and Luffy suddenly stopped abpruptly and looked straight forwards, not able to find the right words at the sight. Luffy gasped and stumbled slowly forwards, the other widened his eyes and let his jaw fall to the cold and rocky ground, literally. Chopper stood beside them, waiting for the two to continue walking, but they didn´t. They just stood there, obviously very stunned about something Chopper didn´t understand, really. What was so special about this wall?

All of sudden, Luffy started babbling something. Chopper didn´t catch everything, he spoke so fast and quiet, but the dog was sure to hear the same word over and over again: gold.

And eventually, the Indian got rid of his speechlessness and unsurely stepped forwards to touch the cold stones that were so fascinating. Chopper mentally rolled his eyes at the two. ´Humans...´

"Th-that is g-g-gold..!" Usopp whispered in shock. In fact, in front of the two was a huge amount of gold in form of a big gold vein! It was about twenty feet wide! And it also looked like no one owned this cave before, so now all the gold...belonged to them! They were fantastically rich now!

"W-wow..! I have never seen so many gold!" Luffy said and turned to his friend. Then he burst out into giggles. "Do you know what this means? I´m rich! I have reached my aim!" Luffy laughed. This was absolutely great! Now he and Sanji and Nami and Zoro and Usopp could own this as their claim and take as much gold with them as they want! It was theirs now, after all!

But then he stopped in his laughing and looked at Usopp who wasn´t as happy as Luffy. And Luffy then noticed something was off.

"What? You won´t help us with the gold, will you?" he asked.

"No." Usopp shaked his head. "And I don´t think you should do this either. Nor Nami or one of her cousins." Usopp shaked his head.

Luffy didn´t understand and frowned. "Why not? I can understand if you don´t want and you don´t have to help us, but why shouldn´t we?"

Usopp looked at him like he was completely stupid. "Don´t you get it? Gold isn´t everything! It makes you so..strange! Please come now, let´s go back and forget about that. You and our nakama, you should stay with us in our tribe and stop looking for gold.." he almost sounded pleading towards his friend.

Said friend got mad. "But Usopp! That´s why we all came to Alaska! We all wanted to be rich, and now that we are it you don´t want us to be! What the hell is wrong with you? Why don´t you want us to be happy?" Luffy yelled.

Usopp and Chopper looked shocked at the half Indian. "No! It´s not that! But can´t you see that that gold turns you upside down? Your character has changed completely in less than five minutes. It isn´t good for you, it doesn´t make you happy! Not at all. Gold can´t make people really happy!" Usopp now was shouting, too, without noticing.

Luffy clinched his fists. "This was my aim! This was what...what Shanks had told me to do, once! Go to Alaska and find your biggest treasure! THIS IS THE BIGGEST! CAN`T YOU SEE I AM HAPPY?" Luffy bit his lips and Usopp gasped a little as he saw tears in his friends eyes.

A long tensed silence followed. Then, eventually, Usopp liftened his head to look at the other teen with sad eyes. Chopper didn´t dare to make a sound and looked at the two.

"You...you are happy? You are really happy?" he sobbed almost in a whisper, but Luffy understood since this was the only sound heard in the cave.

"Yes!" he answered determined. Again, a pause followed.

Usopp then broke the silence for the second time. "Then be happy with all your gold. Be happy with stealing it from the nature, greedy as you act. But I go back to my tribe, to my family now. I only can be happy with them, not with such things most of you people love so much." Usopp spoke slowly and confident, even if the words weren´t easy for him to say. "And now look at you. You look like one of these greedy and cruel bastards as Buggy who would kill for this oh so great gold. Would you kill me now for this gold?"

Luffy looked at him, a serious and shocked expression wearing. He was at a loss of words and didn´t know what to answer Usopp.

"I don´t think your father wanted you to find _this_ treasure..." he murmured once more to the stunned half-Indian and turned to go.

Luffy stood there, not saying anything. He slowly went down onto his knees even though he could feel the coldness coming through his trousers slowly climbing up his legs. He watched in shock as one of his new found friends left him all alone. And after a few seconds he was alone in the dark cave. Even Chopper was gone, gone with Usopp. His friends.

A wave of sadness overrolled him with such might that it brought more tears to his eyes. Luffy sobbed. And slowly realization hit him. ´Did I..did I really say those things...? Why was I lying..?´ he sobbed more, and then one single tear escaped his eyes and made its way down over Luffy´s cheek. ´I-I just said this ´cause I thought...this was what Shanks wanted me to do...didn´t he..? ´ And then, one by one, more tears followed.

Luffy bit his lip so hard that a small trail of blood mixed itself up with the salty tears and rolled down the right cheek of the teen. ´I..I´m sorry...I was lying...´

Then he inhaled a lot of cold air and yelled as loud as possible:

"I AM NOT HAPPY!"

Then he chocked and coughed a little bit and waited for someone to answer, for someone to come back, but the only response he got was his own echo.

_**X Meanwhile X**_

Luckily for Usopp, all the wolves were already gone when he climbed out of the cool cave. When he thought more about it, the ´cave´ looked more like an old left mine...

he let out a deep sigh and slowly went back to the others, Chopper besides him. The dog had sensed the tensed air in that dark cave and didn´t want to stay there. Plus, he was sure, Luffy wasn´t right in this argument...was he?

"Huh? Usopp? Where´s Luffy?" Sanji asked irritated as the Indian and the little husky came back all alone. It took him a while to respond and Sanji immediately noticed something was off. "What´s wrong?"

"I-I..uh..Luffy is still in the cave..." he stuttered unsurely. The cook and the others looked at him, worry in their faces. Usopp sighed. Man, how should he explain this?

But before anyone could ask dumb questions, Zoro suddenly shot up and laid his hands onto his swords. Robin also backed up and carefully scanned the area.

Almost in unison they answered: "There is someone!"

Nami´s eyes widened. "Wh-what? Who..?" she and Usopp hugged each other in fear. Now the sound of cracking snow was repeated and everyone was staring in the same direction. "L-Luffy..?" Usopp stuttered in fear, although he already knew this was probably not the half Indian.

Sanji and Franky stepped in front of the shiverin two to protect them from whatever or whoever was coming. Nami and Usopp flinched, face pale, as a tall man was stepping from behind a rock in front of Robin and Zoro who were in a fighting or more defending position.

As Nico Robin recognized the man in front of them, she narrowed her eyes.

"Crocodile! I hope you hold what you promised?" she asked in a dangerous kind of voice. The others flinched and all eyes fell onto Robin.

"R-Robin! You know him?" Usopp gasped in shock, not wanting to believe what he had just heard. He heard the Indian woman sigh in a sad way. "Sorry, Nagahana-kun and the others. Gomen. I had..no other choice." she whispered.

"S-so you work toghether with this man? With the man that haunt Luffy?" Sanji also didn´t want to believe. Sweat was running down his face. Zoro snorted disgusted at the woman.

Now he didn´t leave Robin and this man in front of them out of his eyes. He knew Crocodile was evil.

Said man just laughed. "Right, right, my dear Aiyana." then he looked at the green haired man" You are a clever one, huh? Not as dumb as the little moron Monkey Donoma Luffy...by the way, don´t you miss him?" he asked in a teasing voice and immediately the other´s eyes widened.

"Luffy? What did you do to him?" Nami asked, all fear forgotten for a moment as madness took over. Crocodile eyes her, before he smirked.

"Oh, don´t worry, we didn´t even lay a finger on him. But you should worry more about yourself now." he warned, still smirking arrogantly.

Sanji snorted, looking right through the man. "You don´t even know where he is, am I right?" Crocodile tensed for a second, then he calmed himself again, looking at the cook.

"Hehe, another clever one...I wonder how you could be able to stand this little idiot all the time!" he laughed and Sanji at once felt the urgent necessity to hit this ugly guy right into his puss to shut him up, but he stayed calm.

Then Zoro´s eye caught something at Crocodile´s hand. A golden hook. And immediately something stroke him. "You killed this fat Lady Alvida, didn´t you?"

Crocodile smirked. "Yes. I did. It was much fun, he he!" Zoro grumbled dangerously at the man. Honestly, he was an asshole! but Zoro tried to relax and not to attack him.

"She was getting in our ways, trying to follow you in the hope to kill you if you find gold. So we had to wipe her out."

Franky wanted to say something, but suddenly this Crocodile guy pulled out a gun.

"And now, turn around. Everyone of you. Arms up!" he yelled madly and as Chopper began to bark, he didn´t hesitate and knock him out cold by hitting him hard onto his small head with his gun. This all happened so fast, none of the shocked and angry nakama could stop him.

"Now you see what you get from protesting! And now, turn around or I´ll shoot!" with that, he pointed at the unconscious little husky and put his index finger onto the trigger.

The others had no chance and slowly turned around, their hands above their heads. The six friends could hear more of them coming, probably with guns and suddenly a deep voice appeared from behind them. Although they couldn´t see his face they were sure he was strong and tall.

He was happy to see all of them at gunpoint. "Good job, Crocodile, Aiyana!" he spoke. "We´ll find the little brat later!"

Robin/Aiyana looked onto the ground.

"Now, men! You know what to do!" the strange man shouted at the other men who appeared from behind the rocks and, before Zoro could grab his swords and defend himself or the others, they were all knocked out cold by a short but hard hit onto their heads from behind. The last thing they saw were a few dark clouds appearing in the sky. Then the world went black.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**Wow, this is a cliff-hanger again! I´m so sorry, but I have to stop here! But I´ll try and update Saturday or earlier :)**

**Sorry for any grammatical mistakes! I´m sure there are some in it^^**

**I hope you had fun reading it :D**

**pls review ;D**


	20. Useless

**A special thanks to SniperKingSogeking0341 and DarkAndStormyNight ;D! Thank you very much for your reviews~!**

**Okie dokie, then let´s begin with the next chapter :)**

**Enjoy it ;D**

**Disclaimer: Don´t own One Piece, it belongs to Oda-sensei!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Chapter 20 - Useless**

Huh? What is that? It´s so cold..! And wet! Where am I?

Luffy slowly opened his eyes and stared into the darkness around him. He was still wondering where he was, when he awoke he first thought he and his nakama where still in that big tipi. But he realized there were no sounds, no fluffy pelt, no nakama...

It wasn´t that Luffy could see anything, tough. But he had this very uncomfortable feeling he was all alone at this...place. While he was still trying to get his eyes used to the darkness, realization suddenly hit him. Yes, of course, he was still in that cave, that..old gold mine... and after the argument with Usopp he fell asleep in exhaustion, sadness and anger.

He sighed deeply. _Usopp..._

After a few seconds he got used to the hurting feeling he felt in his heart, he decided to stand up and go back to his nakama. They were probably worried a lot. Luffy cursed silently as he hit his head and rubbed the hurting area. He was freezing, after all it was still winter and very cold there. Plus, to make it worse, his stomach madly remembered him that it was already time to eat but he simply tried to ignore it.

How long had he been asleep? He couldn´t tell, it was too dark in the cave. No piece of light was to be seen there. Yesterday, when he and Usopp discovered the gold (was that yesterday..?) a small trail of light had come from above through a small hole so they could have seen at least the silhouetts of each other, even just a little.

But right now there was no light. Luffy sighed again. If his friends were still waiting (he wasn´t sure, maybe Usopp had told them everything of their argument and were mad at him now) then he would get a hell of a punishment not only from Nami...

Luffy stopped in his walk and clenched his fists.

"SHIT!" he suddenly burst out, punchin the wall beside him. "Shit, shit, shit!" he repeated over and over again, not stopping until his fists were bleeding. He breathed loudly and leaned forwards so that his head slightly touched the cold stone. He inwardly counted down from ten to zero, then he began to walk again, not bothering with looking at his hurting hands.

He was just too pissed at himself for saying those things to his friend and for making the others worry.

After a few meters he had to crawl forward as the cave got more tight around him. Eventually, he got to the exit and when he stuck out his head he was hit with more darkness. Luffy sweared again, slowly climbing down.

´I have to go back immediately!´ shot throug his head. Man, he had been asleep for a few hours! It was already night, damn it!

The wolves were go long time now, but Luffy didn´t care about them. He passed the rest of the dead deer, not even taking note of it, just stared ahead. He wanted to go back as fast as possible, even if it was hard to find the way in the darkness.

Luckily it wasn´t as dark as in the cold cave, the moon was shining and the white snow on the ground reflected most of the pale light.

When the ground went more flat again, the seventeen-years-old started to run which wasn´t easy in the snow, but he managed it somehow. After all he, Usopp and Chopper raced around, too, so he would be able to do it without them too!

...Even though it wasn´t the same as before. Of course it wasn´t. Back then it was so much fun! And there was some warmth around him...not from the running, it was because he wasn´t alone. Because he was with friends, enjoying life for the first time since Ace had died...

And now, everything had changed. There was no one. He was alone and he didn´t have fun, of course not. The only thing he was confronted with was the coldness. The coldness that was spreading from his heart, slowly reaching the rest of his body...

****

"COME ON AND FIGHT WITH ME, YOU COWARD!" Sanji screamed with all of his might, tightly clinching onto the cold bars around them. But it was no good, Crocodile kept ignoring him. That brought Sanji´s blood even more to boil.

Just when he wanted to yell something, Nami went foward and tightly hugged the surprised cook. At once the young man let go of the bars and shut his mouth.

"Sanji," Nami whispered, "..please, stop. You´ll only make it worse this way..."

Sanji, this time, didn´t break out into his awkward noodle dance thing, he just rubbed his cousins back, sighing. "...alright, Nami-san"

Crocodile smiled arrogantly. "Aww, how cute...you two can thank me later, after all it was me who brought you together now, ne?"

Sanji bit his lip to stop himself from shouting at the bastard. A small trail of blood ran down from his lips, but he didn´t care about that. He sent death glares at their hated enemy. Who was he to dare and say those things to them? This fucking asshole...

Zoro sighed madly. He had his eyes closed, resting against the cold wall. His swords of course were gone. He wished he had them right now, then this asshole wouldn´t be standing there, grinning like he was the best. The swordsman wanted to kick the guy´s ass so badly, but it was no use. Without his swords, there was no way he and the others could get out of the dirty cell.

There were no windows, just a small bulb above their heads that brought a little light into the room. The friends weren´t handcuffed, luckily, but that wouldn´t really make

a difference if they were. They were prisoners of Crocodile and this Wesecahnay guy Luffy´s grandfather was talking about earlier.

Plus, they had absolutely no idea where they were. All they knew was what they could see: A cold and dark room that smelled like shit, to make it short: a pathetic place with sick rats and lots of spiders around there.

Robin and Crocodile were sitting in the same room, the only difference: The two were at the other side of it, that means not behind those bars.

Nami and the other often had tried to speak to her, but she reminded silent, not even taking a look at her ´friends´.

Chopper was with them, luckily conscious again. He was lying in Usopp´s lap, trying to get some sleep.

"Robin! Talk to us, please! Why did you do this?" Nami tried it again. No one answered. The eighteen-years-old sounded like she was going to cry every second. But who could blame her, seeing in which situation she and her friends were in? It seemed hopeless.

The only thing they could do now, was to wait. Wait for the strange boss, Wesecahnay or what his name was, waiting for a message of Luffy, waiting for something to happen, maybe waiting for a miracle.

But nothing happened. Nami shaked her head and sank to her knees, staring at the floor. "Robin," she whispered in an angry and despereated way, " why won´t you talk to us?" the ´navigator´ looked up to the Indian who stood beside Crocodile, still staring at the floor, eyes closed. Robin wore a motionless expression on her beautiful face.

"Robin! Or Aiyana, whatever you want to be called!" Nami´s voice echoed through the room, making her nakama staring at her with mixed feelings like sadness, anger at their enemies or sympathie. But nor the Indian woman neither Crocodile payed attention to her. Nami didn´t give up though.

"Look at me! Damnit, LOOK AT ME!" she shouted and finally, finally Robin´s eyes rose from the floor towards Nami and her friends. A wave of sadness floated through the Indian´s body as she saw them like this, in a dark and cold cell, hurt and with blood on their faces and heads and she wanted to look away at the same time, but Nami spoke again, causing Robin to keep looking at her.

"What is wrong with you? Why did you do this? Tell us!" Nami almost sounded pleading and that shot a small pain through Robin´s heart. She wanted to answer so badly, but Crocodile and Wesecahnay, as the Indians called him, didn´t leave her a choice.

As the other girl noticed Robin wasn´t going to speak, she got more angrier and all above sad. Nami deeply inhaled.

" Don´t you trust us? Luffy trusted in you right from the beginning, you know! We all trusted you! You were our nakama and you still are, that´s what Luffy would say!

And now look what you´re doing to us. You know what?..Luffy would be so disappointed in you!" Nami shouted as loud as she was able to, using the rest of her little energy she had left. The scream echoed through the whole room, sending small shivers down her nakama´s spine, even Robins.

The female Indian gulped hard as she heard that. And she knew, Nami was right. She was so right. They all were so disappointed in her, they had trusted her!

And what did she? Robin had betrayed, and still does, them all...

Truth be told: She felt like her heart was going to be ripped in two. Robin felt so bad and she really didn´t want to betray them, but...

The woman didn´t show them any of these feelings. She didn´t change her expression a bit, she just stared at them. But Nami and the others could definitely tell there was a small hint of sadness in her blue eyes...

Nami gave it up. She turned away, desperately trying to stop the tears from coming out which she failed. A few small tears escaped her eyes and she quickly put her hands over her face. Sanji sighed sadly and gently put a hand onto his cousin´s shoulder to comfort her. And after a few minutes Nami had calmed a bit. She stood up, a small smile on her lips as she silently thanked the cook for the comfort, and wiped her tears away.

Usopp tried to ignore everything and everyone around him. He focused onto the small and hurt dog in his lap. What would Luffy say if he saw his Chopper like this? What would he say if he saw his nakama like this?

He would see hurt and sad people. Betrayed people. And somewhat mad one. But he would miss one thing: The self confidence and courage they all had shown. The hope in their eyes. It had died down.

Usopp sighed as he carefully looked at his friends. Where was Luffy now? Was Wesecahnay with him? Was he found? Or was he already back with the tribe, lying in a safe tipi?

The long nosed Indian doubted the last thought but he really hoped it was true. That at least one of them was safe.

Then he wondered what was going to happen to them. Would Crocodile kill them? But why? Why would he capture them? No matter how hard he or the others tought about that, they wouldn´t get an answer. Crocodile didn´t speak. When they awoke, one after one, he hadn´t said a sinlge word. Just sat there and smirked at them.

The only thing he had said a while ago, was: Just shut you mouths, it´s no use. We have our orders. The big boss will come soon.

That didn´t really help them now. But eventually they got it and one after another had begun to shut up.

Franky sat in the dirty edge, not looking at anyone. He was staring at the floor as if there was something really interesting. The ex-capitan hadn´t said a word since they were there.

Zoro sighed now and then, glaring at his enemies hatefully.

No one put him into a prison like this without regretting it...

But until that revenge, until they were free again...

What were they going to do _now_?

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

Luffy ran as fast as he could, panting like an exhausted dog. He had a bad feeling, although he didn´t even know why. Everything, besides the argument, should be fine, right? But still, call it instinct, he felt like something really, really bad has happened. So he made a run for it, hoping that he would reach the place where they should be.

He whished that they would sit there, laughing & talking about some random stuff and when he appeared he would get a few lessons taught by them for making them worry.

Then they all would sit back and begin to talk to each other again. Tomorrow they would go back, he would talk to his grandfather and maybe Luffy would be able to reach the old guy. Then everything would be perfect...

But this imagination was roughly destroyed as he ran around the next rock, awaiting to see his precious nakama there. But all he saw were a few backpacks, leaving untouched behind. Luffy stopped aprubtly, sinking to his knees in exhaustion and disappointment. So his friends really did go back without him... maybe that was the only right thing to do, after all I have said... he thought, being gutted about the fact they left without him.

A few seconds later, his brain stopped him in his almost self-pitied thoughts as it rang in alarm. And when Luffy thought closer about that, he came to the results that

his friends

1) wouldn´t leave without a note or something, at least _anything_, no matter how angry or mad they were at him and

2) they wouldn´t leave without their things...

All of their bags were still laying in the snow and even Sanji´s pot was there, although it wasn´t positioned above a fire anymore. Animals had eaten the left soup in there and the pot was laying in the snow, most of the soup gone, the rest of it frozen in it.

To make it short and simple: Their resting place looked like they had to leave harum-scarum, maybe to flee from something or someone...

Suddenly, a small shiver was sent down Luffy´s spine and he shivered, hugging himself as he quickly stood up again, walking towards the bags.

As he came nearer, he could recognize a hand-sized stone lying onto Zoro´s bag. He bent down to see what exactly it was (after all it was still night, so he didn´t recognize it as a stone).

Thanks to the little but strong moonlight, he was able to read the small note that was written in the stone as he practically faced it. The the teenager quickly shot up and stumbled back a few quick steps. If it was day now, you would be able to see his pale as a sheet face.

The strawhat boy gulped, eyes wide. ´Nononono...that can´t be true!´

The note said, in a more or less hard way to read:

_Your friends are with me, I invented them. It is much fun with them, but I doubt they enjoy this as much as I do.._

_watching them in their cold little cell without food or something to drink..._

_If you wanna help them, then stay where you are. We will come as soon as the first sunshine touches the top of the mountains, then we can switch nakama with yourself._

_..if you want to give your life for them, of course... if not, then your nakama are as good as dead._

_Wesecahnay & Crocodile_

He suddenly remembered something Usopp had always said when he was scared: That must be a dream, that is a dream. Just a dream. I only have to close my eyes, wait a few seconds to calm down and then I open my eyes and oh surprise: It was just a dream!

Even though that never had worked before when the long-nosed Indian tried it, Luffy imitated him and tried the same.

He had his eyes closed, always repeating those things in his mind: This is just a dream, this is just a dream, this is not true...

He slowly opened it, as if he was scared to see the horrible truth: It was not a dream, it was the hard reality he had to face. Luffy stared wide-eyed into the darkness before him, then his gaze wandered to the stone with the awful note on it he wished he had never seen. He hoped, _begged_, it wasn´t true, this ass had just lied to him.

But then, Luffy knew it was true.. he could feel it. He could feel the pain his nakama felt right now, the pain of being caged. The pain of not being able to be free.

Because of him. And if he didn´t do what he was ordered to, then they would never ever feel what freedom is like...

His nakama were in his hands, right now. As this shot through his head, he felt the uncontrollable madness rising up in his body. This thought made him unbeliefeable upset, he didn´t want this to be true.

His hands were shivering, but not from the coldness around him, it was because of this awful feeling of being useless. While he was sitting on his stupid, lazy ass in this stupid cave, sleeping in more or less peace, his friends got kidnapped! He could´ve fought, helped! But no, he was useless. Not able to help.

Now he couldn´t take it anymore, the madness and exasperation finally taking over, and he let all of these depressing feelings out in form of a heart wrenching scream that echoed through the dark and cold area. Luffy didn´t know how long he has been sitting in the snow, helplessy and sad as he was, crying out his pain.

This...this stupid Crocodile and Wesecahnay...! How...how can they do something like this?

**XYYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

As the morning came, the sky slowly got from dark blue to purple in the east, Wesecahnay stepped to the caged and very hungry nakama who weren´t able to find any sleep last night (except for Chopper). They hadn´t spoken much that last night, no need for words.

Robin and Crocodile hadn´t slept either, the two of them had watched the six prisoners for the whole night and were rather tired. But they tried as best as possible to not show it in front of the six and, all above, in front of their big boss or for Crocodile his partner.

The six nakama laid all the time there, staring back at the two out of the cell, wondering what was going to happen next, wondering about Luffy.

Usopp had silently told them about their argument, luckily Crocodile wasn´t really listening to anything they said, so just Robin had heard it. But the female Indian had reminded silent. She hadn´t told a single word of this to her boss, Crocodile. Usopp was grateful for that, although he didn´t quite understand the relationship between Robin and her ´boss´... another secret to discover...

Luffy would love that if it wasn´t a horrible situation like this. And if he was with them.

Finally, after the long night, the friends were able to meet Crocodiles horrible partner...it was a tall (more fat than tall though...) man with a very strange way to laugh and a black beard. His hair was curly and black, too. The man, fitting to his scary aura, had a few teeth spaces.

When he stepped suddenly, without a warning, into the room, all eyes were on him. Wesecahnay seemed to love the attention he got which made him even more arrogant.

Crocodile smirked to him and Robin just nodded shortly, then she looked away from him as if she was scared to look him into the eyes.

But the man didn´t care about that, he directly stepped to the nakama who glared at him.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" Zoro growled dangerously, not showing any sight of fear. To tell the truth: Zoro was way too much pissed off to be scared anymore. And beside that, someone like Zoro wasn´t scared. He doesn´t know what fear is.

The man laughed harshly at the questions although there was nothing funny about them.

"Zehahahaha! Don´t be like that, is that how you greet your master? I could easily kill you off, ya know." he smirked at the others who remained as they were.

Zoro and Sanji snorted at him, Nami glared at the man, Usopp, again, focused onto the little dog in his lap and Franky´s gaze was still fixed onto the dirty floor.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Zoro repeated his questions, this time more slowlier to make the other guy understand he was clearly pissed. The tall man stopped laughing, a smirk shown on his ugly face.

"So, you are asking who I am? I thought you already knew my name...the Indians here gave me the name ´_Wesecahnay_´,

which means translated ´Blackbeard´...zehahahaha! So call me Blackbeard!"

And before anyone of the friends could answer to that, his voice boomed through the bleak room again.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I will go now and get your little friend...that´s going to be very interesting, I think!"

With that, he left as sudden as he stepped in, leaving the pissed and worried nakama back in their dirty, cold cell to stare helplessly onto Blackbeards back, wanting so badly to stop him, no matter what.

But there was nothing, they could do. Absolutely nothing.

And at the same moment as the door was closed and locked again, everyone of them felt the same, shameless feeling building up inside their body:

The uncomfortable feeling of not being able to stop him, him or Crocodile, the two who destroyed Luffy´s life...

They felt so...

useless.

**XYXYXYXYXYYXYXYXYXYYX**

**Yeah, DarkAndStormyNight, you were right with Blackbeard! Congratulations :)! But I guess you´ve known the whole time you were right, ne? xD**

**Anyways, I think the note Blackbeard gave Luffy on the stone sounds a bit lame, doesn´t it?^^ but I hope you guys enjoyed it :)**

**Reviews are always welcomed :D**

**Until next time, ja mata ne ;)**


	21. Your life for theirs

**Sorry for the long wait! I´m such a lazy ass sometimes! But luckily I managed to beat my laziness and went to write the next chapter xDD and as you may have already figured out, I suck at giving titles...so this title is again a bit lame, but I couldn´t think of anything better! Sorry!**

**Special thanks to the two who bothered with pressing the small botton that says ´review this chapter´ ^^**

**Thank you for your reviews :D**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: that´s right xD **

**DarkAndStormyNight: Hehe^^ thank you! Oops, yes you´re right...*slapps forehead* I didn´t notice that really, I was too focused on Blackbeard´s stupid note...^^**

**Oh, and before I forget, thanks to everyone who faved this story! I´m so glad you like it!**

**Aaall riiight then, let´s start~!**

**Disclaimer: *sigh* Luffy, would you?**

**Luffy: Neko11 doesn´t own One Piece! I´m gonna be king of the Pirates!**

**Neko11: Thank you, Luffy. So and now- wait, what? You don´t have to say the last part, ya know.. just the disclaimer..**

**Luffy: Why?**

**Neko11: Forget it. Here you have some meat for saying the disclaimer *grin* and now let´s finally start :D Please enjoy ;DD**

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Chapter 21 - Your life for theirs**

Slowly the sun began to rise. The sky turned from dark blue to purple and from purple to red. . a red sky in the morning was never a good thing. Although in this case it was more a bad omen to a terrible thing is going to happen than a herald for bad weather.

With the rising sun the valley began to wake up. A few birds started their little journey towards the Yukon River, wanting to get a little energy by drinking. And it seemed a lot of other animals had the same idea as they, carefully if any danger was in sight, came out of the forest, walking through the half frozen snow.

A few deer came in sight. They slowly turned their heads, sniffling around, trying to catch every foreign scent that could mean danger, then scanning the area to make sure everything around them was safe. One of them suddenly stopped, staring at one single ´object´ that was to be seen not far away from them.

There was, in fact, a person, a single person, sitting in the snow. The deer eyed him suspiciously. After a while of glancing they turned around, not too fast, and walked away. This person, a young man probably, was no danger for them. He didn´t move, didn´t speak, had no weapons.

Probably he hadn´t even noticed them. The deer weren´t sure if he was even still alive or frozen to death. After all, the night had been indeed very cold, it was easy to loose control over your own body if it´s tired. Hundreds of human had already died that way, falling asleep and never awoke again.

_Poor boy_, one of them shaked its head. The others agreed.

The group of deer stomped away and after a few minutes they were out of sight.

Now the sun was already to be seen fully on the blue sky. Normally it would´ve been a very beautiful view, sunrise in the mountains, but in Luffy´s case it was everything but beautiful. The boy wasn´t dead, the deer had been wrong. Something like that wouldn´t kill him off, not if his life is that precious.

Yep, it was precious in his situation. His one life was as worth as six other.

The strawhat boy sighed deeply and watched as his breath could be seen in the cold air. Then his gaze turned towards his hands. They were dark blue and Luffy, for the first time in this morning, could actually feel the coldness. He was freezing. Shivering.

Although he was covered in warm blankets. The blankets he took from his friends´ bags. He was lucky that the others had brought them in their bags, otherwise he would have died at night.

Heh. Lucky. Luffy inwardly laughed at this irony, but his expression didn´t change. The seventeen-years-old just couldn´t bring himself to smile or laugh in this situation. He was going to face Blackbeard or/and Cocodile very soon. His friends are their prisoners. Robin betrayed them.

The list was endless and Luffy thought, this was certainly _not_ something you should laugh about. Really not.

His grumbling stomach was coldly ignored by him. He had other things to worry about right now. Luffy rose his head and a quiet cracking sound was made in his neck. After all, he hadn´t moved it for a few hours now so it wasn´t surprisingly.

The seventeen-years-old, his precious strawhat on his head, stared without any expression at the sun that was getting stronger with every minute.

Now he would see the murderer of his parents and his brother again. After a few weeks. Luffy watched the memories flashing through his mind and he tried not to think about it. To push them away. But as the memories of meeting his friends, his nakama and family, came he wanted to remember every minute, every single second when they were toghther.

He wanted to remember again how much fun they had on their journey. How they laughed together, in the evening at their campfire.

It was the first time for a few weeks that he had been able to laugh again. It was a great time, although a few terrible things had happened back then, too.

But that´s life, Shanks once had told him, life is terrible to you. But not only terrible, it can be a lot of fun, too. You just have to give it a chance to show you its many faces. Pain and Happiness. Ups and downs. It´s only natural, and life can´t always be good to you. You have to live with it and look forward the good times.

They will come for sure.

Luffy always had that somewhere in the back of his mind, clunching onto it. The strawhat boy had been sure after the downs of his life he would finally be able to experience the other side, the happy part, with his new friends. But as it seems he was wrong.

Had Shanks lied to him? That there were in fact no ups and downs, no good and bad things in life?

Maybe you need to be born on the right side from the beginning to have a good life. Maybe it was simply like that. Either you´re lucky and experience just ups or you are unlucky, like Luffy.

The black-haired teen shaked his head to get rid of these depressing thoughts. Honestly, how could he doubt Shanks, his own beloved fathers words? Shanks had been always right. He was just sad and a bit confused about their current situation, that´s all. The ups would come. They would come.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"Damn IT!" Zoro was pissed off to no end as he hit the iron barrels with his hands in his anger. Not only that they got captured, hungry and cold as they were, betrayed by Robin and Luffy was probably facing the other tall bastard at the moment, no, a few hours before Blackbeard had come and taken the little dog called Chopper away. And that was it. That was what brought Zoro´s blood to boil and he had wanted to help Chopper, God knows what Blackbeard would do to the poor animal, but only got a good hit into the stomach. The strong swordsman would´ve beaten the other man for that normally but had no choice as standing still as his friends were being hold at gunpoint at the same time. That fucked son of a bitch was a damn coward!

The other nakama knew it was useless, they couldn´t break out of their cell, but who could blame the green-haired one?

They all were really mad and upset. Maybe it wasn´t that wrong to let the anger out... although he and Sanji had already had a few arguements to let their madness out...

No one said, dared to say, a single word, letting the swordsman keep hitting the barrels. Even Crocodile and Robin didn´t move from their spots (they were ordered by Blackbeard to watch their prisoners, just in case), eyeing the young man with some respect, but no fear. Why should they stop him? That would just piss him off more, so they let him do as he pleased.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Slowly a small puddle of dark crimson formed onto the dirty stone floor. Zoro panted, his sore and now bleeding hands shaking in anger, resting on the cold barrels. Blood was running down his arms to his elbows, until it finally dripped onto the floor.

His nakama looked at each other in worry.

"Zoro..." Nami quietly spoke up. Although it was almost a whisper her cousin had heard her and his head shot up, glaring at her.

"What?" he barked madly. Of course, they all knew that, the green-haired man wasn´t mad at Nami nor at any of the other nakama. All of his madness and hate was against their capturer and himself. Because he couldn´t do a thing, because he was helplessly sitting in a cell, waiting for something to happen.

"C´mon, stop hurting yourself. It won´t help us out of this..." his cousin said. Her stomach grumbled loudly and the others were as well hungry like hell. As if they would getting anything to eat from Crocodile...ha ha. Robin wanted to give them some water and bread, but the other man had madly protested and angrily slapped the poor Indian woman right across her face.

That was when Nami and Co. noticed Robin couldn´t be a partner of Crocodile or Blackbeard. The woman had nothing to say there.

And then, everyone in the cell had the same thought: Robin was forced to do this.

But why she wouldn´t protest or fight, or even telling her nakama why she betrayed them, they only could guess.

Usopp turned his head away to stare at the grey wall again. Zoro was not the only one who was currently pissed off. This damn Blackbeard and Crocodile! What would they do to Chopper? As they had shouted this question at the already leaving man with the little dog in his arms he had just laughed and answered:

_"Zehahaha! I just need him for the meeting! It´s not up to me if this little one will survive or not! It depends on whether strawhat behaves or not!"_

Usopp sighed, sad about the fact that Chopper was gone now, too. And, as if this was not enough, Usopp and the others had something else to worry about.

It was probably already day outside which meant Blackbeard and Luffy were meeting... good grief.

This was the murderer of his family, he and Cocodile, and now he had to face him again...how worse could it get? Luffy probably felt really sad, angry and, all above, he would want to kick his own ass for not helping his friends.

Just because he and Usopp had this stupid fight back then.

The long nosed Indian couldn´t believe he had said that to his best friend..of course, Luffy was acting weird and selfish, but he had been suffering for so many years...how could he have argued with him?

They could have talked about it in peace. Usopp was sure Luffy would have understand what he meant. He would have apologized and they would have head back to the others together. Forgetting about the stupid cave. Forgetting about the stupid gold.

...but then, what would have happened if Luffy had been with them as the men appeared and Robin betrayed them? It wouldn´t have been any better.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and as the Indian turned around he looked into a blue eye with a curly brow above it: Sanji. The cook tried to cheer the long nosed one a bit up by smiling at him. And the blond managed to get Usopp cracking his lips to a small smile, too. At least.

The cook could understand very well how the other felt, after all he and Luffy had an argue back then. Usopp must be blaming himself and feeling totally down right now by the expression he was showing as he looked onto the floor.

Usopp, glad he wasn´t alone in that situation, knew exactly what Sanji was trying to say with that smile: _Don´t worry. It´s not your fault. And as long as we´re together, everything_ _is going to be fine. We´ll get us and, all above, Luffy out of this shit!_

That cheered the Indian up a little bit and he nodded at the cook, still showing a small smile. Nami and Franky had watched the whole scene between the two, and now the two were also smiling.

Zoro turned away from the barrels, sitting back down against the wall near his friends. He was sending death glares at the two outside the cell, but more to Crocodile as to Robin. The female Indian probably wasn´t the right one to blame.

Nami suddenly stood up and walked over to her green-haired swordsman. Said swordsman was a bit irritated by this action, but didn´t move as he watched his cousin filling the gap between him and the others by sitting down besides the young man. She smiled tiredly at the twenty-years old and was glad her smile was returned by a (to her surprise) confident smile from Zoro.

Normally the man wouldn´t have done that little action, but in that case he was somewhat glad Nami was there. And the others, too. That little smile from his cousin brought a bit of new energy and confidence to him, even if he would never ever admit that out loud.

They would beat the bastards and free Luffy and themselves.

Truth be told: Nor he neither one of his other friends had any idea how they would do that. But _that_ they would do it was out of question.

Definitely.

**YXYXYXYXXYXYX**

Robin, on the other side, was rather depressed. But she did her best to hide it from Crocodile and her ´ex-nakama´. And she succeed, none of the others in that room did notice her mood.

She flinched a little as Crocodile, sitting on a chair besides her, coughed loudly but she quickly recovered from that little shock. Robin eyed the arrogant man with the long scar that ran across his face.

Oh how she hated him and Blackbeard. How she would love to hit them, telling them how much hate and disgust she felt for them.

But she knew that wasn´t possible. So the female Indian bit her lip and remainded silent. Which wasn´t easy, by the way, as she had to watch her nakama in that pathetic cell suffering and pleading, asking or shouting at her for betraying them. And who could blame the six in the cell, she would do the same. But she couldn´t answer. Crocodile had forbidden it.

Probably because the disgusting man loved to see someone disappointed and in pain.

What a _fucking wanker_...!

Robin wasn´t the type to insult people like that even if she just thought it and didn´t dare to express it out loud... but this was an expectation, seeing what damn bastards the two men were. They would deserve that kind of treatment after all...

If this whole shit was over and she was free again, she would scream that at the two assholes!

Robin, being also known as ´Aiyana´, sighed sadly, turning her gaze onto the floor.

If only Luffy was okay right now...after all, Blackbeard was a cruel man who didn´t give a damn about other´s feelings, he could kill Luffy off easily.

But if that was the case, if the two violent men would hurt Luffy or any of his nakama, then she would never forgive herself for letting herself being blackmailed by the two. Never. Even if it wasn´t her own fault. And, of course, her hate for that man would grow even more.

If that is possible.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

"Long time no see, mugiwara (1)!"

Luffy flinched visible from his spot and shot up so that the warm and fluffy blanket that had been resting on his shoulders fell into the cold snow. As if Luffy would give a damn about that at the moment. He quickly turned to that direction where the deep voice had come from and spotted the tall man not far away from him.

"What did you do with my nakama? How could you know where we were?" Luffy glared at Blackbeard in front of him. Mentioned man first stared at the other boy, then he went into a laughing fit that seemed to bring Luffy´s blood to boil. What did that fucking ass want from him..? Luffy had no idea.

Only thing he knew was that he and Crocodile suddenly and without a warning appeared in his life and destroyed it. And now one of these two was here.

One of them who killed his parents and then, after everything seemed fine again, murdered his brother... and the strawhat teenager didn´t even know _why_..

"ZEHAHAHA! Just like your damn father! Always acting like a worrying hen whose chicken had gone lost!" Blackbeard smirked down at Luffy who found it everything but funny. "You´ve grown a bit since we last met." Blackbeard, who was known as Wesecahnay which meant in fact ´Blachbeard´ in one of the Indians´ languages, commented and earned another disgusted glare from Luffy.

"But fine, if you want to know so badly how we knew you and your little group of wannabe-family went on that little trip today...Robin told us."

Luffy´s eyes widened visible and he was completely shocked to hear that. Robin...?

"Yes, you heard right...your oh-so-nice Aiyana betrayed everyone of you..funny, huh?"

The strawhat boy was pissed off to hell. This stupid...! Luffy wanted to break down and just cry like last night but he pulled himself together and let all anger and sorrow out in form of a shout, full of hate. Robin _was _a nice person. She would _never_ do a thing like that without a _very_ good reason, Luffy was sure!

"FUCK YOU!" he yelled, his face getting a little red. Luffy´s fists were shaking and just to his luck, Blackbeard had noticed this and seemed to enjoy this situation even more.

"Hmm, what was that? Ya know, your little helpless friends are still my prisoners...You don´t want them to be hurt or something, right?"

Luffy wanted to say something, but suddenly two strong hands roughly grabbed his neck, causing Luffy to yelp in surprise and shock, and lifted him up so that his feet were swinging freely in the air. Now the tall man was easily holding the black-haired teen with one hand up.

"So that´s why you better behave yourself now, got it?" the tall man´s face was deadly serious now and Luffy´s lip began to tremble slightly as memories of this ugly man started floating uncontrollable through his mind. He managed a short nod.

What other choice did he have as to do so? What if there were some of Crocodiles´ spys watching them and later, before he and Blackbeard arrive there, would go and report how Luffy was acting? That meant if Luffy was doing or saying things the two don´t want him to do/say, his friends would get hurt for sure.

And that was one thing the strawhat boy never wanted to happen!

"Good boy." Blackbeards grin was back on his face and he suddenly let go of the teens´ neck. Mentioned teen fell into the snow but quickly stood up again. No way he would lay in the snow in front of that asshole! Blackbeard sure would laugh about that and take it as an obeisance or something, being the insane and greedy man as he was.

"As you already know, you have something that I want. And you will give it to me now." Blackbeard´s deep voice beamed.

Luffy was confused. He honestly had no idea what the ass was talking about. Something he had what the other wanted?

"What? I don´t know what you mean." Luffy answered but that didn´t seem to be the right answer because next thing Luffy knew was he was, again, laying onto the cold frozen ground with a bleeding lip.

"You little brat! Don´t take my warnings lightly, I meant what I said!" the black-haired man was furious now and in his anger he had hit the teen right into the face. Luffy looked up to him, a mad and somewhat shocked expression wearing.

He stood up again, a frown on his face.

"I really don´t-" but he was cut off as he could feel a fist against his jaw again that sent him flying backwards. For a short amount of time the world went black. Luckily he quickly recovered and came back to his senses as he felt the warm liquid running down his mouth. What did this moron even want from him? Couldn´t he just fuck off and leave him and his friends alone? Luffy didn´t understand and when the strawhat boy stood up, feeling the anger and disgust against this man inside him rising, he gasped in shock at the view in front of him. Luffy went pale as the snow around him.

´Nonono! Don´t...!´

"Zehahaha! I do really enjoy this! Yeah, now you will behave and tell me your stupid fathers´ little secret, won´t you?" Blackbeard smirked, showing his teeth spaces in his mouth, was besides an other tall man. Mentioned tall man, probably one of the two men´s spy, was holding a scared and freezing Chopper in his right arm, pressing a loaded gun with the other hand to the poor little husky´s head.

As Luffy saw this, he wanted so badly to hit Blackbeard into his stupid face so that fucking smirking expression of his would finally vanish. But he couldn´t do that. Not when he had his nakama. And holding Chopper, the dog he got from his beloved brother, at gunpoint.

So the strawhat teen, disappointed and helpless as he was at the moment, bowed his head and went down to his knees in complete defeat. He didn´t care about how pathetic this was. The cold wind blew him into the face, making a scary sound. Luffy ignored it, staring into the cool snow in front of him.

"Al-alright...you won.." was the droopy and quiet answer.

Blackbeard grinned arrogantly down at the boy. "Heh. Finally. You are not as stupid as I first thought! So then...tell me everything you know!"

´This is my only chance to free Chopper and my other nakama! Hopefully he´ll fall for it...!´ shot through Luffy´s confused mind as he began to speak.

"But..." he said and caused the two men before him to raise a brow, "..On condition that you first let my nakama go! ALL of my nakama, including Chopper and Robin! Then I´ll tell you the secret and you can do what you want with me!" Luffy was looking Blackbeard straight into the eyes, a determined expression wearing that sent a small shiver down the black-haired man´s spine.

This look meant Luffy was _deadly_ serious.

But this was exactly what Blackbeard wanted. Just Luffy telling him Shanks damned secret he was searching after for so long now...the others were just pawns in a game Blackbeard had won now. The cruel man didn´t need them anymore, so why not letting them free. They were now use for him now.

"Deal." Blackbeard took Chopper out of the other man´s hands and roughly threw him away. Luffy gaped at the roughly action.

The little dog squeaked as he painfully hit a stone in the snow and slowly managed to stand up on shaky legs, eying the mean men with half hateful, half scared expression. Then his eyes wandered to Luffy and when he wanted to run to his friend, he earned a hard kick into the head. Chopper was shocked and his world went black as he, again, hit the ground.

"You..! STOP THAT! You promised!" Luffy shouted as he got up, small tears pricked in his eyes, stepping towards his enemy. Blackbeard grabbed Luffy´s hand tightly which caused the other to yelp in pain. Luffy tried to get rid of that tight grip and struggled.

"What did I promise? Just that I would let your nakama, even Robin, go, not that I wouldn´t harm them, remember? And now come with me, _you_ promised me something, too!"

"No! No no no! You damn..! I..I..!" Luffy shut his eyes tightly and bit his lip so hard that his teeth went deep into his skin, leaving a small trail of blood running down his skin. He didn´t want it to be true! This whole nightmare! How could life be so cruel? How could a _man_ be so cruel? How?

He sniffled not audible for one of the two men who dragged him away forcefully.

Chopper...!

Luffy watched his little dog lying in the snow, not moving. But he forced himself to look away and tried not to think about it. Chopper would be fine! He was strong!

The black-haired half Indian was dragged along, still having Blackbeard a tight grip onto his wrist. Luffy was so confused and mad, so many painfully memories mixed up with uncomfortable emotions that built up inside of his body, that he wished he had a sharp knife to cut his hand off right now.

He didn´t want the damn jerk called Blackbeard holding his hand! He felt so disgusted of him, but it couldn´t helped.

As a new blow of cold wind blew into his face, he realized what kind of sick thought he just had and bit down onto his tongue.

´I have to stay clear-minded now!´ he told himself quietly and inhaled a few times deeply. Blackbeards deep voice brought him back to reality.

"You have brought a rope with you as I told you, right?" he asked the other man with the short hair and the, ironically, dark sunglasses. The man wore a grey jacket and black trousers and had a strange fat lip.

"Sure." he just replied and handed Blackbeard the strong rope over. And before Luffy could wonder what this rope was for he found his hands tightly handcuffed by the rope that started to hurt his skin. Now he was walking behind the two men and Blackbeard, that damned ******fucker, was treating him like some sort of street dog, no, worse than that, more like walking trash.

Luffy felt so much revulsion for this man with the curly black-hair that he didn´t look at him anymore. Not even from behind.

He, being the optimist as he was like his father, Shanks, he tried to think positive. And so he managed to smile a little at one thought, even as he was in that kind of deep shit.

_At least my nakama are free again..._

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**(1) mugiwara = strawhat**

**I hope you liked it ;) and sorry if the characters are a little OOC here^^ especially Blackbeard..**

**Reviews, questions and comments are always welcomed! ;D**


	22. Sacrifice

**Hello~! *waves hands* I´m back finally! :D **

**Hello...? Anyone here..? Ahh...well, if there is anyone: sorry sorry that I didn´t update any earlier! *bows head* Now I´ll update weekly again, I promise! **

**Thank you very much for your review, DarkAndStormyNight! :D Yep, they are :) Oh he´ll know soon I think..**

**Also thanks to everyone who fav´ed this story! **

**Let´s begin =DD**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own any of One Piece and it really sucks that we have to wait so long for the next chapter! Oda-san how can you take such a long break knowing there are millions of fans waiting for the strawhat crew to finally reunite? *sigh* It´s gonna be an awful time without any new manga chappies!**

**WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW**

**Chapter 22 - **

The sun was slowly fighting its way through the heavy snow clouds and changed the tensed atmosphere in a friendly one. But the people on the ground didn´t seem to notice or to care about that. Around them the atmosphere was still heavy and unfriendly.

"Here it is," Blackbeard said, kicking the wooden door open and stepped in with the other strange man following, " your new home! I know it is not very comfortable and in a good shape but you will get used to it."

Luffy stood in front of the door, his glance wandering around, taking every piece of the house in. It was more a little castle than a house, at least from the looks of it.

It was made of stone and had two towers at each side. The rest was a primitive roof made of stones. The small castle itself had just a few windows and Luffy thought it must be very very dark inside of it.

Why on earth did someone build a castle-like house in the middle of Alaska? What good is it for?

The strawhat boy found it disgusting and dirty here, especially as he noticed the three small hills around it. Everyone of them had a small and old cross on top of it, showing Luffy that these three hills were graves. Probably mass graves by the looks of them.

As if Blackbeard had mind reading powers the man began to answer the unspoken question.

"Heh. These are mass graves if you wonder what these hills are. The people who built this nice castle are buried here. They did a great job though, but after they finished we found that we just didn´t have any use for them anymore." Blackbeard explained as if it was one of the most natural things in the world which made Luffy gasp.

Now he hated these men even more... if this was possible.

He shivered at the thought. Even if Luffy didn´t know the people that had died and laid there he still wondered: ´What happened here..? What did they do to them..?´

But as he thought more about it, he maybe didn´t even want to know. He knew these men were cruel and that probably not only to him.

Luffy couldn´t finish any further as Blackbeard suddenly pulled the rope to him, causing the surprised teen to fall facedown into the snow. But as he tried to stand up he had to learn Blackbeard wouldn´t let him. The tall man just pulled Luffy into the huge house, dragging over the cold floor.

They were in a dark and cold corridor with a lot of doors on the right and the left side. Luffy gave up in trying to stand up. He was just too exhausted and found it didn´t matter anymore what happened to him.

He ignored the pain coming from his bleeding wrists. The rope around his hands were cutting into his dry skin merciless, leaving trails of warm blood running down his arms. He ignored his hurting head. He also _tried _to ignore his aching heart...

The other strange man in the grey coat vanished in one of the many doors on each of the side.

Blackbeard ignored him and just dragged Luffy along into the darkness.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"Crocodile-san, I think Blackbeard-san is back." Robin said barely audioable for the man. It seemed as if she didn´t really want to talk to this monster.

At least this was how the prisoners thought about it.

"What does this mean? Does he have Luffy with him?" Sanji barked tiredly at Crocodile who just smirked.

"Hey, answer! I swear if you did anything to him then-" Nami started madly but couldn´t finish her sentence as the door to the dark room was suddenly opened and the tall man called Blackbeard went in.

With Luffy dragging over the floor as if he was some kind of old bag of potatoes or something. Robin was the first to notice Luffy on the floor behind Blackbeard and glared at the man who ignored her.

Unfortunately, Crocodile was the second one and quickly greeted Blackbeard. Then he chuckled at Luffy and got his attention by doing so. Immediately, Luffy´s eyes widened and he glared at the man.

"You´ve grown up a bit, Luffy! I´m impressed!" he said but Luffy didn´t respond. He just turned away, full of hate.

"Luffy-bro! Hey, ya alright? You look pretty bad!" Franky was immediatley at the barrels, throwing a worried glance at the strawhat teen on the floor. Said teen slowly liftened his head. He managed to nod before he went to speak.

"M-minna! You...ok?" he asked with a small smile upon his pale lips.

"Y-you... this is not the time to worry about others!" Nami shrieked more shocked than mad. She just couldn´t believe this guy! Sure, she had been travelling with him for a few weeks and got to know him very well but still... this teen never failed to surprise her. Even with such little things as these.

Normally Zoro would have smirked at that but currently he didn´t feel like smiling..and wondered how Luffy managed to do so.

He glanced at Luffy to Blackbeard and back. The black haired man must have dragged the teen all the way down to their cell. And as Zoro took a closer look at the teen´s bleeding wrists he guessed Luffy had to be more or less dragged to this strange castle. Again, Zoro felt the urge to slice the enemy´s ugly face in two.

Sanji stared at Luffy who smiled right back at them. The cook looked the boy a few times over. From shoe to the bleeding hands. Luffy was slightly shivering at the coldness. His clothes were dirty and partly ripped. Here and there was a bit blood spattered on his jacket and his lip was bleeding. His hands looked really bad, they were blue from the coldness outside and red from the blood that was coming from the hurt wrists. The rope around these areas was already blood soaked.

As Sanji stared like this at the boy in front of him that was only a few feet away but unreachable because of the iron barrels between them he wished he was in Luffy´s place. He wished he would lay there on the cold floor, trying to smile at his nakama.

But then, how would he be able to smile? He wouldn´t. He would feel ashamed to be seen by his nakama like that. And Sanji would shout non-stop at his capturer.

But he wasn´t in Luffy´s situation. He was more or less unharmed with his nakama. He was safe now that Blackbeard had what he wanted to have. And as the blond cook slowly realized that his anger and hate began to grow more and more. And he was sure: This asshole and his partner Crocodile would have to pay for what they did.

"LUFFY!" Usopp cried out as he launched himself against the barrels to be as near to his friend as possible. Luffy stopped smiling and glanced at the other Indian.

Then the strawhat boy slowly robbed to the teen behind the barrels and slowly looked up to the crying Usopp. A big frown upon Luffy´s face.

A few seconds of silence followed and the other nakama wondered if the two would start shouting at each other by the looks of it.

But then, Luffy began to cry as well and the others sighed in relief.

"I-I`M SO SORRY!" both of them cried in unison. Franky grinned at the sight of the sobbing teens, shifting into a more comfortable position. Not that it was comfortable in that cell.

"L-Luffy, I didn´t know what I was saying! That is why you came to Alaska, right? It was your dream, right? I´m sorry!" the seventeen-years-old Indian said as a few tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"Usopp you baka! Stop apologizing already! It was my fault! I was acting weird and not the way I usual would have acted! So..I´m sorry! A-are we still friends?" Luffy sobbed like a little child whose candy was stolen.

Usopp smiled and rubbed his tears away. "Of course you moron! We will be friends forever, don´t forget that! No matter what, okay?"

But before Luffy could answer Crocodile was besides him in no time and, without a warning, kicked the strawhat teen into the side. Said teen was surprised by that sudden kick and yelped as he hit the opposite wall of the barrels. Then he laid there face down, unmoving.

Usopp shrieked and backed a few centimeters away to stare at the tall man in front of him in shock.

"Luffy!" Franky yelled but got no response.

"You...asshole! What was that for?" Sanji yelled madly at Crocodile.

"I was bored at the way these two pussys acted. That was absolutely pathetic." At that, Crocodile spat onto Usopp´s cheek. The Indian quickly wiped it away in disgust and sent a death glare at his enemy. Sure he was scared as hell but he would never again, that moment he swore that to himself, show Crocodile or Blackbeard that!

He would stand up for himself and his nakama! And this bastard wasn´t allowed to watch down like that on him and the others!

"Oooops, did I spit on your poor baby-face, pinocchio?" Crocodile chuckled and turned away towards Blackbeard who was still holding the rope.

"You did a good job, partner! Did you dispose the dog?"

Luffy´s head shot up at that and he glared at the man with the hook. "Shut up! Don´t talk about Chopper like that!" he yelled and his nakama agreed.

"Yes, you shithead! And what the hell did you do to him?" Sanji shouted. He had really liked that little dog and he and the others knew how much Chopper meant to Luffy. It was the only thing the teen had left from his brother. And it was certainly no thing! It was an animal, a friend! It had feelings, too!

But the two men just ignored their prisoners and went on chatting like nothing had happened.

Nami´s blood was boiling. She was so mad at the moment! How could these guys do and say things like that? But she tried as best as she could to remind silent. Like hell she would shout at the monsters! They weren´t worth wasting the energy!

Robin silently went over to Luffy.

"Robin! Are you okay?" Luffy´s face went bright again as he saw the female Indian healthy. Said woman didn´t say anything in return and quickly helped him up.

"Thanks Robin!" Luffy smiled at her and Robin couldn´t help but smile right back. This little moment of peace however was quickly destroyed by someone who couldn´t stand happiness by the looks of it.

"Aiyana! Didn´t I forbid talking to my prisoners?" And before anyone could even open the mouth Blackbeard slapped the Indian woman right across the face. Robin however didn´t even yelp, she just turned away from Luffy to face the grey floor.

Luffy clenched his fists in anger. He clenched them so hard that his nails dug into his skin deeply but at the moment Luffy didn´t feel the pain. His anger was too high.

"That´s IT!" Sanji yelled, face as red as a tomato as he pressed it against the cold barrels. "You fuckin´ ass!" Sanji didn´t know why Robin had betrayed them but he was sure she didn´t do it because she wanted to. Moreover she had to be forced to do it. That was already enough for Sanji to be mad but now Robin had been hit for the second time! And that was definitely too much!

Zoro reacted quickly and pulled his younger brother away from the barrels. "Calm down, you will only make it worse!" he told his brother who went silent.

Sanji bit his lip and turned away from Zoro. He knew Zoro was right. It was no good.

"Tch tch tch Robin. You´re a bad girl. And the bad girl has found it´s bad friends." Blackbeard said with a smirk on his face.

"Oi, omae (1)." Luffy said as he stood there shakily, his hat making his eyes invisible. Everyone in the room, plus Blackbeard, looked at the teenager.

"You said you would let them go, right?" at that Luffy lifted his head, making his eyes visible, showing a nice death glare at the man, " SO LET THEM GO NOW! AND ROBIN TOO!"

Lufffy knew Blackbeard hadn´t promised he wouldn´t hurt his nakama. Luffy knew his own mistake. So he had quickly decided the best thing would be if the two men would let them go as fast as possible. So that none of them would be harmed anymore.

Robin widened her eyes. She turned to Luffy and wanted to say something, but Crocodile and his partner were faster.

Blackbeard and Crocodile laughed in a dirty way. "Alright, alright, cool down, will ya? I will throw them out like you wanted. Don´t worry." At that the black-haired man roughly grabbed Luffy whose eyes widened in shock and threw him against the wall.

"Hey, quit that shit already!" Nami yelled. She couldn´t hold it any longer and let the shout out. But it was coldly ignored. Nami grumbled in frustration and anger, turning away.

"C´mon Nami-san.." Sanji went to her and tried to comfort her a little.

Robin gulped her tears down that fought hard to be released. But they lost the fight. ´I´m free...thank you, Luffy.´ was her only thought as she bit her lip deeply.

"Crocodile, could you?" the tall man said as he turned to the cell and pulled out an old key to open it. Crocodile nodded and tied the end of the rope onto an iron ring in the wall. Luffy didn´t stop him from doing so.

"H-hey Luffy, do something! Don´t let them do everything they want to you!" Usopp said as he watched his friend being tied to the wall. But sadly he got no answer. Luffy looked onto the floor.

"Luffy!" Zoro said. No answer. Finally it made ´click´ and the old iron cell door was opened. Zoro, his cousin, his brother, Usopp and Franky weren´t handcuffed or anything so they could get out without a problem.

"Come out. But don´t try anything funny or I´ll shoot. And Mister Crocodile over there," Blackbeard pointed to said man who had a loaded gun pressed against Luffy´s side, "won´t hesitate to shoot."

Luffy´s nakama just glared at him or Crocodile and silently went out of the cell. Robin slowly lifted her head and looked at the exhausted teen at the wall. Then she closed her eyes and sighed for no one audioable.

"Okay then, say goodbye to your little friends!" Crocodile said to the strawhat teen who looked at his friends being hold at gunpoint by Blackbeard.

"Luffy..." Usopp´s lip trembled slightly at the sight of his freezing friend. Franky quickly clasped his big hand over Usopp´s mouth to shut the Indian up. Said Indian didn´t fight against it. A few tears appeared in the corners of his eyes, then he and Franky turned away from Luffy who smiled a sad smile. Then he shivered.

It was indeed cold in that dark room.

The Indian didn´t want to leave his friend here with these monsters. God knows what they are going to do to him! They had brutally killed Luffy´s family and Alvida (not that they would care that much about that strange woman..), and they sure would do anything to get to know Shanks´ secret!

They all knew that. And none of them wanted to go and leave Luffy alone in that situation. But they knew they had to.

They had to so that they could help him out of this hell. They were his only hope now!

So they bit into their lips, turned away to walk out of the room.

"Ya find the way out?" Blackbeard asked with a cocky smirk.

"Sure as hell we do!" Zoro growled back without even looking at that man. Zoro promised himself something: Next time he would look into those man´s eyes he would send him to hell! And now was not the time for that. Not yet.

Then they turned to the door. "Minna!" Luffy said and the others stopped but didn´t turn around. " I´m sorry I can´t search with you anymore and we can´t have adventures anymore together!"

Listening to this made his nakama´s heart to rip in two. But they remined as they were, no answering, no looking at him.

"Please look after Chopper!" Luffy added before he shut his mouth and formed it into a smile. But deeply inside him he just wanted to cry. His nakama weren´t even answering...

Luffy watched them leave one by one and he gulped. There was it again. This strange...feeling. What was it called? Sadness? Madnes? Weakness? Or was it just lonelyness?

Probably a bit of everything. How he hated these feelings. He had wanted to never ever experience them again at once but as it seems his wish wouldn´t be paid attention to.

´C´mon, Luffy! Cheer up! Your nakama are free! They are free and not in this dirty cell anymore! You won!´ a little voice in his head said.

You won. You won. You won. These words always repeated themselves in his mind to that point that they lost their meaning.

You won. What did I won? Did I won?

Luffy was confused. The two men, Crocodile and Blackbeard, they had gotten what they wanted to get. He was beaten up, physically as well as mental. He was completely exhausted and hurt. He had lost so much and the moment he thought he had won something precious again it was coldly taken away. And now he was alone again.

As Luffy thought about these things his confused mind couldn´t help but wondering:

Didn´t that mean that the two monsters had won?

Luffy tried to think about the bright side: His friends were safe! But even though he always repeated that and tried to fight against his doubts... the feelings from before just wouldn´t disappear.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"And now?" Sanji asked as they made their way back to their resting place from yesterday. All of their important things were there, for example Zoro´s swords. And Zoro would need them soon.

"We first find Chopper." Zoro answered.

"And then?" Nami asked.

"We need help. From Garp." Zoro said determined as he walked through the deep snow. The others didn´t say anything as they thought about it.

Robin, walking at the end, didn´t say a thing. She was looking at the white snow on the ground. Truth be told, she was ashamed. Ashamed of herself. She felt responsible for the whole thing ´cause she had betrayed them. Because she had let herself forced to do so.

But she didn´t dare to talk to her...nakama. She just couldn´t find the courage.

And so they went on walking, the only thing in their mind: how to safe Luffy. Luffy who saved them by sarificing himself the moment he could´ve been free.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Hope you liked it! I know it´s a bit depressing to read, sorry for that :) but there are still Luffy´s nakama! Can they help him? And...will Garp, the stubborn, cold-hearted old man even help them?**

**Well, you´ll know in the next chappie!^^**

**Review please? Pretty pretty please? =D**


	23. The great secret?

**Hi :) **

**Thank you two for your nice reviews ;) **

**DarkAndStormyNight: Nevermind, I still do it when I´m excited xD **

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Wow =0 I´m pretty sure if he heard that he would help them..^^! **

**Thank you two, I´m glad that you review! :D**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece! Just the plot :)**

**And a little warning: This chapter is a bit cruel and depressing I think...and, of course, the title sucks but I´m not good at thinking about an interesting one, sorry!**

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Chapter 23 - The great secret?**

"He is your only grandson! What the hell is wrong with you old geezer?" Zoro nearly shouted at the old Indian with the grey hair. Said old man just continued sitting on his butt, not caring - or at least he didn´t seem to - about what these six people were talking about.

They were all in Garp´s big tipi. Luffy´s nakama had arrived half an hour before and, first of all, brought Chopper to the Indian´s doctor who happened to be Brook.

They had found the poor little dog half frozen laying in the snow near their earlier rest place. Immediately they had checked him up and noticed: Blackbeard was no friend of animals. Which didn´t really surprise them at all. But their hate grew at the sight of a very beaten Chopper.

Said dog was barely conscious and was bleeding in his face but he didn´t whine or anything - he was a really strong dog after all.

Brook had taken care of the little husky and the others were straight heading towards Luffy´s grandfather - their only hope to help the strawhat teen out of this.

Of course they could try and rescue him on their own but even if they made it to him they knew they didn´t stand a chance against Blackbeard´s and Crocodile´s many many men. They needed help.

So they told Garp everything about what had happened the past day but the stubborn old man didn´t seem to care at all which shocked the friends.

Even Robin found it extremly disgusting how a grandfather didn´t give a damn about his only grandson in this kind of situation. So she did her best to support the others.

"Go out. Now." Garp grumbled, his gaze wandering around the tipi as if he was somewhere else with his mind. This however made the others even madder.

Franky and Robin bit their lips to stop themselves from shouting.

"IS THAT THE ONLY FUCKING THING YOU CAN SAY?" Usopp shouted in English (Garp could speak and understand English after all) and shocked the old man with that. Usopp´s friends were just really surprised by this sudden outburst but found it great on the other hand, because this seemed to get through Garp´s thick head as he finally showed emotion.

But the shock wasn´t as deep as expected, the old Indian suddenly stood up, face emotionless again, and just glared at Usopp for a second. Then he lifted his arm and simply pointed to the exit of the huge tipi.

Nami glared right back at the old man. She was pissed off - to say the least - as everyone else of her nakama. She just didn´t get this man! Heaven knows what these cruel men are going to do to Luffy and he just sits there and doesn´t even say ´oh my god, that is horrible´ or something to show any sympathie for the teen. In fact, he didn´t do a thing like that.

As if his heart was frozen. But who could melt it? And the main question: How could they melt it?

"Get out please. Our chief wants you to leave." One of the elder Indians suddenly came in and told them in an English that was difficult to understand. But the others caught what he said.

Zoro turned around and faced the Indian with the long, grey hair and looked him directly into the eyes. "You know what? Try and get us out. I won´t leave this place until we get some fuckin´ help to free Luffy!"

The other Indian seemed a bit lost at this. "This is not very polite of you. He ordered you to leave so you have to. It is not you who is allowed to decide things. You are a guest and have to listen to our chief now. So-"

Zoro didn´t really care and just cut the older off. "Listen! Luffy is one of you! He is the ´oh-so-great´ chief´s grandson! Luffy is probably the only family member of this geezer left! But if Garp doesn´t move his ass soon to help his grandson then he won´t have any member of his beloved family left! Then there´s no one anymore! And then, maybe then, he will realize he should´ve helped Luffy. But then it´s too damn late! So we have to free him NOW! As long as we have a chance to!"

The old Indian didn´t say anything to that. He knew the teens were right. He knew it. But he also knew that Garp wasn´t the chief he used to be. Years before Garp was a good chief, always helping others even if he didn´t seem that nice as he always hit Shanks. Though these hits were just to show the readhead affection.

But then, his beloved daughter and nice Shanks had to leave. To flee from this place. And it was mostly to save the tribe. And since then he had never ever heard anything from his beautiful Nayeli. Never again.

Garp´s wife had died years before Nayeli left. It was hard enough for Garp. But then he lost his daughter too - and that was too much. He became emotionless and ignored problems. His mind was always anywhere else, in a dream world. And then, one day in summer, Crocodile came and told him everything what they had done.

That they had killed his lovely daughter and Shanks and that he had had a little grandson who was killed too. Even Shanks, the man who had saved the whole trabe, had been murdered brutally.

No one really knows why Crocodile came and told Garp this. Probably for his own fun, his own entertainment. The whole tribe was depressed to hear that and wished nothing else more then getting rid of Crocodile, Blackbeard and their men. But they didn´t stand a chance against those unfair and cruel fighting men.

They had traps and guns. While the Indian still fought with simple weapons. They had lost and since then they were glad to hear nothing from these men again. Until Luffy showed up.

Back then, when they tried to fight, Garp didn´t fight. He seemed to not even notice there was a battle going on. He was already cold-hearted and frozen from the inside out. Which none of the Indians had been able to heal. Not even Brook, the medicine man.

The old Indian shaked his head as he thought about that. These young people did know nothing about Garp. Garp was just a lonely, pitiful, old man.

As Usopp watched the other Indian in the tipi he realized there was more behind this - and that the old one would want to help Luffy - but couldn´t.

The long nosed teen sighed and looked to the ground.

"Leave this place. And never come back again." Garp said, already sitting again and staring at the exit with a hard look upon his old face.

And this was the time Sanji lost his nerve. His visible eye flinched and suddenly he took his still burning cigarette out of his mouth, throwing it to the ground, yelling:

"You know what? You don´t deserve being called a ´grandfather´! You are no grandfather in my eyes! ´Cause which grandfather, who thought his family was dead, would leave his only grandson leave alone in a damn situation like this?" Sanji´s fists were trembling as he said those words full of anger.

And indeed it showed reaction from Garp. His eyes slightly widened at what he heard and he turned to look Sanji directly into the blue visible eye.

"And besides that, we know you lost your daughter in a brutal way that would destroy everyone´s mind but...Luffy was there! And he´d seen it! He was just a little and innocent kid and everything he held dear was crushed into pieces!

He´d seen his mother full of blood lying on the bed! He´d listen to his father´s last words! And after he´d somewhat survived that crap and finally thought he could be happy again as he found a brother who he´d loved, this beloved brother was taken away from him mercilessly too!"

Garp´s eyes twitched a bit at what he heard. Everyone else in the tipi was listening with mixed feelings of sadness and anger.

Sanji however wasn´t done yet as he inhaled deeply again.

"He´d lost so much... but even though, he still continues to smile! He still finds the courage to live!"

Garp bit his lip, hardly anyone noticed that. But the old man was truly fighting with himself inwardly. He´d heard everything this blonde guy had said and he knew it wasn´t a lie. Luffy had witnessed that and was still so..full of optimism. And that was why Garp suddenly realized he was respecting the black-haired teen.

Robin and the old man gaped at that. The old chief was really listening to him! Maybe...just maybe it would help him to get back to the real world?

Maybe they could help him to see what was really going on?

Franky was watching the old Indian known as the chief carefully. The blue haired man knew that something was going on inside of Garp.

Then Nami couldn´t take it anymore as tears began to stream down her face.

"Sanji´s right! I´ve never met someone like Luffy before! He gives you a warm smile and is so...caring! He is the complete opposite of you! Do you think it was easy for him in the past? Do you think you need to be pitied instead of him? Maybe you really need to be - Luffy doesn´t need to! He´s strong!

Strong enough to fight against this sadness and sorrow of loosing beloved persons! Luffy would never give up! And that´s why you shouldn´t give up yet, too! You still have a grandson! And he still has a grandfather who he believes in! Don´t you see that? And he needs you now!"

Nami quiet down in sobs and closed her eyes tightly. Sanji´s glance softened as he heard what Nami had said and smiled at his cousin. Nami was so right.

Hopefully Garp realized that too. He had to.

Said Garp stood up and looked everyone in the tipi right into the face before his glance wandered to the ground. Then he sighed.

"Listen. Everyone, listen."

**YXYXYXYXYX**

"AH!" Luffy bit his lip in pain as Crocodile pulled the teen´s arm behind his back painfully with a cracking sound. Said man smirked as he was enjoying that somehow.

Blackbeard on the other side was wearing an angry grimace as he watched the scene before him impatiently: Luffy was being tied to a chair with one arm free which was hold by Blackbeard´s partner. It was a very dark room the three were in. It was only lit by a small candle that was being hold by the black-haired man with the big frown.

He didn´t haunt Shanks, or better, his son after that useless man had died, just to watch Luffy being tortured. He just wanted the damn secret! Right now!

And that was it. Blackbeard grumbled before he threw the candle onto the floor and stepped over to Luffy and slapped him right across his cheeks. But the strawhat teen didn´t even have time to breathe as another slap came. A hard one. And from then on many many hard slaps followed until Luffy was bleeding.

"You little rat! Just tell us your fuckin´ father´s secret! That´s all I want! That´s all I´ve been searching for!" Blackbeard shouted at the boy who continued looking to the dirty floor as his blood ran down his face and dripped onto the floor, slowly forming a small pool.

"You little piece of trash!" Blackbeard yelled again and hit Luffy directly into the stomach which made him gape in pain and surprise. Then the teen gasped for air.

Crocodile frowned at this and turned to his partner.

"Hey, wait a minute. Maybe you´re going a little too hard on him. " Crocodile said which surprised Luffy a bit to hear sympathie from his enemy. But the strawhat teen remained silent.

Blackbeard squeezed his eyes as he glared at his ´partner´. "So, you think so? And I think I´m going a little too easy on him! He´ll spill the beans soon after I´ve finished this brat!" he grumbled full of madness. Crocodile smirked right back. "That makes sense. I guess you got a point."

"So, my _dear _Luffy, would you please tell us your father´s secret?" Blackbeard asked in a soft voice. But Luffy knew it was just fake. They would probably kill him. After they would find out what they wanted to know. But they wouldn´t. Luffy didn´t even knew what kind of secret Shanks could have had, the father had never talked about that, Luffy was sure. So it was useless. Blackbeard´s and Crocodile´s actions were useless.

Blackbeard cracked his fingers, then he lifted Luffy´s head up so that he could stare him directly into the brown eyes and then Blackbeard aimed for the teen´s forehead with all of his might. Luffy didn´t close his eyes as he glared at his enemies full of hate but no fear and prepared for a hard hit. This hit however sent the teen plus chair right into the next wall with a loud crash.

For a few seconds Luffy´s eyes only saw black and he could feel an unbelieveable pain coming from his forehead. That was no ordinary hit with a fist. Luffy shaked his head to get rid of the diziness that came in waves but regretted it immediately as pain stroke his body. Then he could feel a warm liquid running down into his eyes and dripped onto his trousers.

Shit, what was that? The strawhat teen couldn´t stand up still being tied onto a chair so Crocodile came over to the teen and put his chair back onto the floor, only for Blackbeard to hit Luffy again into the face.

This time Luffy expected the hit being hard. And indeed, his nose made an awfully cracking sound as it made contact with Blackbeard´s fist. Luffy bit his lip, blood coming from his hurting nose.

It really hurt and he felt..a bit lost. But on the other side, everything was fine as long as his nakama are save!

Then, as the seventeen-years-old turned his still hurting head back to his enemies, he saw why Blackbeard´s hits had hurt so much: The asshole had an iron brass knuckles onto his right fist. And now the brass knuckle had blood splattered on it.

But Luffy didn´t think of giving up and screaming or crying. He didn´t give up and never stopped to glare. Then, as Blackbeard was about to hit him again, Luffy looked up and did one thing none of the partners would have expected him to do. Not in this hell with two people who ruined his life.

Luffy did smile. Not a cheesy grin or a genius smile, just a simple smile.

Crocodile´s smirk fell and he began to frown deeply, partly in amazement how a human can be able to smile in a situation like this, and the other half because it simply surprised him. Blackbeard was really taken aback, too. The tall man´s hated face vanished for a few minutes and instead a questioning look appeared. He stopped in hitting the boy.

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you have convulsions or what?" Blackbeard almost yelled half amused by the pathetic sight of a little boy trying to fake a smile.

Crocodile began to laugh. "Do you think you´re cute? If you think so then let me tell you: No you are NOT cute, this is just pitiful!"

But Luffy continued with smiling. Then he took a deep breath, his smile still not leaving his bleeding face, and opened his swollen mouth.

"I´m smiling because I´m pitiyng you. I feel really sorry for you. You-" Blackbeard cut the boy off by hitting him again.

"Who do you think are you? What do you think are you? A genius? A philosopher? Human? You are none of them! You are fucking scum who doesn´t deserve to be alive at all! You don´t deserve to be loved!" the tall man with the bad brushed teeth yelled furiosly as he kept on hitting the boy before him.

Crocodile just watched with an arrogant expression and wondered when the boy would finally start to scream. Or when he would fall to his knees and beg for mercy.

Soon, he thought as if to calm himself. No one could bear with something like that for long.

But then, Luffy was not just ´no one´. He was Luffy.

As Blackbeard then stopped to catch his breath, Luffy still had a smile across his hurting face. He closed his eyes.

"Maybe you´re right. Maybe I don´t deserve these things. But even though I´m alive. And even though I´m being loved. And this won´t change! You won´t change this no matter what!" with that, the strawhat teen opened his eyes again and this time a grin spread across his face as he looked at his enemies.

"You fuckin´...!" Blackbeard yelled with a red face and wanted to beat the hell outta the boy, but Crocodile stopped him from doing so.

"What the..! Let me go, you ass! Let me kill that brat!" but Crocodile didn´t let him go.

"Just wait a fuckin´ minute and think about it! If you will continue on hitting that rat he won´t be able to speak anymore!" The man with the hook on his arm yelled into his partner´s ear to make him understand. And it worked. Blackbeard relaxed a bit and the other man finally let go of him.

"Oops, you´re right.." Blackbeard said as if nothing serious had happened. "I guess I forgot." He chuckled before his attention was back at a still smiling Luffy.

"So...you still think you can survive? Well, maybe, but trust me we´ll let the rest of your life be so much hell you wish you can finally die and see the true hell!"

he laughed dirty as if he had made a great joke. But his laughs echoed back from the empty walls and eventually died down.

Then he smirked, releasing his dark teeth. "So? What is your decision? You could just go if you told us about the secret, you know. But if not, then you won´t be seeing your nakama ever again. What decision you take doesn´t matter to me - to us - we´ll get what we want no matter how long it will take us to get it out of you:"

Blackbeard crossed his arms and waited for an answer. Luffy smiled a bit less but kept on his smile. He knew Blackbeard was right. Not that they would get what they want - no - but that he wouldn´t be able to see his nakama again. He sighed, deeply inhaling the bad smelling scent of this room with almost no light.

Should he tell them? That he didn´t know anything? It didn´t matter anymore.

"Fine." Luffy eventually spoke, getting the two men´s attention again as they waited for him to continue, "I´ve decided. So listen carefully. I don´t know anything about my father´s secret, I´ve no idea what you are talking about, and even if I knew I would never tell you!"

Crocodile´s eye twitched visible. The next second he was by Luffy´s side and the strawhat boy was surprised by this but didn´t say anything. The man with the big scar in his face put his golden hook around Luffy´s neck and yanked him back with a sudden motion. A quiet sound was heard and Luffy´s body flinched at the action but remained silent.

Crocodile´s hook was pircing a little bit into Luffy´s skin and a small trail of blood ran down his throat. Blackbeard however gritted his teeth as realization struck him.

"You damn little pest! You´ve been lying to us the whole time! You are just like your damn father! But it was a pleasure to kill him after he wouldn´t tell us about his secret himself!" he yelled and spat hatefully onto the floor. "I can´t believe we fell for a shit like that!"

Crocodile was furios, too, to say the least. He had been hunting this jerk for a lot of years and spent most of the time with this ass called Blackbeard! He even had killed Shanks himself after he had learned the red head had a son. He ´d been so damn sure Luffy knew about it and was searching for the ´oh-so-great´ secret! But he didn´t even KNEW about it until he was captured by them!

The tall man in his mid-thirty´s released the boy´s neck and Luffy´s head got back into it´s original place with a little cracking sound. Luffy however still didn´t stop smiling which annoyed the hell outta the two murderers.

"You...!" Crocodile, still besides the sitting Luffy, couldn´t find words to express his true anger and did the only thing he could think of: hitting the rat! And so he did, although he had no brass knuckle it still hurt a lot. After all, the pissed off man was hitting his probably already broken nose.

But still, the smile and the quietness of the boy didn´t vanish. He didn´t scream or even wince. It was like he didn´t feel any pain. This made the two men more furious.

Crocodile then spotted a thin line around the teen´s neck. So this scum still had the stupid strawhat!

Without thinking twice about it, the man known as Crocodile grabbed it and ripped it off. Then he threw the old hat onto the dirty floor and cursed in his anger.

The man didn´t notice the change in Luffy´s face.

The teen gasped at this action and his face expression turned completely upside down. Where had been a smile not too long ago there was now a face of horror.

Luffy gasped almost not audioable for the men. Almost.

The small candle was flickering, spending the only light in the cool room.

Blackbeard however caught Luffy´s change of his face. Unfortunately.

"The strawhat.." he murmured and then, lifting his foot, heard Luffy gasp again which didn´t stop him from stamping onto the wornout hat.

"OI! STOP THIS, DAMN IT!" Luffy screamed with all of his might as he had to watch the murderer of his parents and his brother stamping onto the beloved old strawhat Shanks had loved so much. The only thing Luffy had left from his father.

Crocodile began to understand and watched with a somewhat satisfied expression. The little rat should suffer!

Blackbeard didn´t stop and continued, his face forming a smirk as he enjoyed his own action and Luffy´s desperate screams. The boy was totally out of it and tried to move the old chair he was sitting on to reach his strawhat before it was completely smashed into pieces.

But there was still another mean and cruel man. Said ´hook-man´ stepped out of the shadow and kicked Luffy with his chair to the ground where he put his foot onto Luffys head.

Luffy managed somehow to look up just in time to see his precious strawhat being stamped in two. He gasped at the sight.

"You...You fucking asshole!" was all he could scream in his madness and hate at the two smirking men. Then his head fell to the ground and he stared at his destroyed hat.

"No...this can´t be...you destroyed it! How could you?" he grumbled. Those bastards! This was Shanks hat! One of his most precious things besides Chopper, his nakama and his memories with his family. But now one of those things had been taken away without mercy. And now he was laying in the dirt, a foot on his head, bleeding and being laughed at.

But suddenly one of the deep laughing voices stopped and a surprised kind of tone was heard.

Blackbeard kneeled down and picked something up. Then he stared at his partner.

"Eh? What is it? What did you find?" Crocodile asked.

"This..is a piece of paper. It must have been inside the hat! It´s an old map!" BLackbeard said as he tried his best to read what was written on it but couldn´t make the single words out, it was too dark.

Then he grinned, getting the picture. "Ah...so that´s how it is!" he said. "Crocodile, we don´t need him anymore." he pointed disgusted at Luffy who was surprised about the map, too.

Then Blackbeard added:

" I think I have just found the great great secret of Akagami Shanks!"

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

**Okay, and now a very importand author note: It isn´t very motivating to get only two or one review/s every chapter you know. I´m really grateful for the two who reviewed last time, especially for DarkAndStormyNight who reviewed almost every chapter. **

**So I´m really sorry for you and SniperKingSogeking0341 but if I don´t get more reviews then I´ll stop writing this. **

**I really didn´t want to force you but I just need some motivation or response from readers! So, again, please review!**

**See you (hopefully) next time ;)**


	24. You can never break me!

**Woah, thanks a lot for the nice reviews! I´m so glad that you like my story and asked me to continue =D So **_**I won´t stop writing **_**and make this chapter longer than the last, extra for you guys as a thanks for reviewing :D I must say, you really kicked my butt back to the computer!^^ (I would´ve updated earlier, but I was busy with homework, sry! But this is my last year and in June are the final exams ... so I won´t have too much time..) but I will write whenever I have enough time! **

**mugiwara-cristal: I´m so sorry..I can´t French...(luckily I had someone who could roughly translate :D) Thank you ;D and I hope I won´t disappoint you! ;)**

**MyWonderLand209: I´m glad you like it! No, I won´t thanks to you guys who reviewed! :)**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Yep, poor hat...Thanks! I will :D**

**secrethearts: That´s great to hear! Thanks ;) I guess you´re right with that =) really? That´s cool! Well, they can´t be as bad as my ideas that go through my head sometimes, so don´t worry, you should write your own stories! :D**

**Nevermind :)! And thank you again for this wonderful comment! **

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Thank you! :D**

**Again, thanks a lot to you all, you guys rock =D! I´m happy to see there are people interested in my story and I hope it will be worth reading the next **

**chapters!**

**I apologize for typing errors, please bear with me... I hope there aren´t too much! **

**Little warning (and sorry for this ultra-long author note xD!): Blackbeard is going to be brutal in here... so be prepared.**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece! But I´m the most happiest One Piece fan in the world because finally we got a new chapter~~!**

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

**Chapter 24 - You can never break me!**

"Listen. Everyone, listen" he spoke, eyes hidden in shadow as he looked to the ground. Everyone in the huge tent was silent, watching the old guy.

Did they got him to help them? Was there a little hope now?

As the tension began to get unbearable and Sanji already inhaled to speak up, began Garp to lift his head, his eyes looking more soft than minutes before. This shut Sanji up and the old man began.

"I´ve lost so much, more than any of you know. And none of you would ever been able to understand how I feel and what I went through in my life. So you have absolutely no right to judge about me or my life. You are the last persons to criticize me or my attitude." He still looked quite serious and even though his eyes had softened a bit they were so...lifeless. This upsetted Luffy´s nakama.

"Was that everything? I don´t care about your fuckin´ story, sad or not!" Zoro grumbled madly. Garp looked at him with no emotions.

"No. This wasn´t everything. I just wanted you to know that I won´t let someone like you talk about me like that." he sighed again, closing his eyes. "I made a decision. A final decision."

Sanji slightly rolled his eyes, leaning to Usopp as he whispered into his ear: "This guy is getting on my nerves with his dramatic short sentences...he should just say: yes or no!"

Usopp almost had to chuckle at that, almost, this situation was just too serious at the moment, and answered quietly: "You´ll get used to it after a while...and now be quiet and listen!"

Sanji sighed, draining his attention back to the chief. To his and the others surprises, a slight sob was heard as the old man put a hand into his face to shield his eyes away from the others. Even the other elder Indian in the tent seemed surprised by that.

"Chief...? Are you okay..?" one of them asked in their Indian language but even though, the others could guess what was being said. But the chief didn´t answer.

Nami squeezed her eyes, glancing at the sobbing guy. Then her glance softened and she suddenly felt sympathie for the man. And who could blame her.

This man sure didn´t have an easy life until now.. no wonder he was crying right now..

Then, after what seemed an eternety to them, finally Garp spoke again. His voice wasn´t as emotionless as before, he trembled slightly.

"I thought I had lost everything I held dear. I thought it wasn´t worth continueing to live anymore. It felt as if my soul and my heart was being stamped on until nothing was left anymore.. but I have something. I still have something left..." then he went quiet as if realizing he had said something wrong.

Robin couldn´t believe the words that came out of her chief´s mouth. It always had seemed as if Garp was just an existing soul, not able to show emotions. And then suddenly the strong iron shield around his heart was being crushed! Garp was back, finally!

After so many many years! He´d been in that emotionless state since his beloved daughter had left Alaska together with Shanks. Years went by, no answer or visit came from Nayeli and he feared for the worst. And then he got the final and sad truth told: His daughter had been dead for ten years, all hope of seeing her again being crushed into thousands of pieces.

But this belonged to the past now! Garp was about to wake up from this state!

The other young Indian, Usopp, was taken aback by that speech, too. There were so many emotions in these two, three sentences! He could hardly believe his ears...but was somewhat glad and reliefed at the same time. He just felt that everything would be good from now on. They had as good as won. The only question is against who they won... just against the shield that was around Garp. But the true enemy would be stronger. A lot.

The real fight was just about to begin...

Franky watched the old Indian closely. So this old geezer really had a heart, he thought as a slight smile spread across his face and he put his sunglasses back onto his face. Okayy..this was unexpected from this man..

Nami couldn´t help but wondering what exactly the chief meant with ´ I still have something left´... Luffy or his heart generally? But then she shaked her head to get rid of that absurd thought. That didn´t really matter at the moment! They had absolutely no time to sit here and talk!

"So? Are you going to help us now?" Sanji asked impatiently although he tried to hide it as best as he could. The chief however didn´t seem to care as he simply continued sobbing.

Garp wiped his tears away, facing his men. The two old Indians caught this and were waiting for an order to throw the foreigners out. After all, Garp was still Garp... right? He wouldn´t change back just because of these guys.

"I am... going to help you!" was the final answer from Garp, voice as strong as if nothing had happened at all. His look changed from a somewhat pained expression to a determined one that remembered of that of Luffy he often showed. His friends already missed it.

But Garp´s answer let all regret and other bad feelings vanish in less than a blink of an eye and in exchange hope and new strenght began to build up inside them.

"Hooray!" Usopp almost yelled.

"That´s great! Now we can free Luffy!" Nami smiled.

Garps expression didn´t really change, but the others didn´t give a damn about that at the moment. Hell, they did it! They had Garp on their side now!

"You two, bring all of the men who are able to fight to me. Now. Tell them to get ready to fight." the old man ordered and immediately the other two Indians did as they were told, no words spoken.

"Ya know, after all, ya aren´t that bad, old bro´!" Franky commented with a grin upon his face. He began to like the Indian somehow! This old guy wasn´t as hard and cold-hearted as he always acted.

As everyone else was more or less shocked about that unpolite comment and awaited an outburst or at least a cold glare from Garp, the old Indian just rose his eyebrow at the 36-years old who still was grinning.

Nami just sighed at it, rubbing her temples. "Guys...can we get a bit serious now? You know it will be dangerous and definitely not easy! You already know how cruel and brutal these two men are! And they have probably lots of fellows that are at least as cruel and strong as them! Remember Lucci?"

Zoro just ´tchd´ at that. He was sure he would be able to handle such men. Sanji and Usopp eyed each other, slightly gulping as they remembered that guy very well.. Nami was right somewhat...

Said girl smirked at that for a second, then the smirk vanished and she became serious again. "See? I think you got the picture. Oh, and, all above, don´t forget we don´t fight to take revenge for what they had done, we just want to rescue Luffy, alright?" she looked at Zoro who rolled his eyes. Her glance hardened.

The others, except Garp who just listened silently, nodded.

"Good!" the orange-haired girl said.

"Let´s go outside. I think I can hear some of the warriors there waiting." Robin suggested as voices from people outside were heard. Garp nodded and exitted the huge tent, Luffy´s nakama following.

It was really cold outside, even colder as hours before. The temperature dropped each hour and Usopp and Nami began to freeze slightly at the cold wind.

Indeed, outside were a lot of strong looking guys standing, getting quiet as they saw their chief appearing. Garp only looked at them with an emotionless face, again, as he rose his hand.

"I know I haven´t been the best chief since I knew my daughter had died. Then these people came, telling me I still had a grandson which I didn´t really listen to. I didn´t understand. But these people made me understand, made me realize. Until then I hadn´t been a good leader. But now´s not the time to apologize.

Now´s the time to fight! We have to free my grandson and show these two monsters and his fellows they can´t do anything they want! We have to show them that they aren´t any better or more clever than us! We have to fight!" He spoke in Indian language, voice strong.

The crowd of strong Indian´s cheered at the chief´s words, lifting their hands.

Usopp, who translated the spoken words into English, and the other nakama were amazed by the way Garp suddenly spoke. The whole attitude of this old guy had completely changed within a few minutes!

This old guy, only bad temper and sadness coming from him, face as hard and glance as hard as a rock, was giving such an undescribeable strong aura off it took Luffy´s nakama completely aback.

To make it short: They were speechless, wondering where the hell this sudden power came from!

"W-wait a sec!" a sudden voice reached Robin´s ear and she saw Brook, the oldest of the Indian tribe, running towards them. The other Indians, including Garp, didn´t notice their medicine man and continued to cheer and listen to what Garp explained.

"Huh? Brook! What´s wrong? You look a bit troubled." Sanji said, litting a new cigarette. Damn, only two more left! He needed to get to a tabacco store soon!

Immediately, the cook earned a ´man- what´s-wrong-with-_you_-there-is-an-important-fight-going-on-soon!´ glare from his brother, cousin and nakama as Brook caught his breath. Sanji flinched slightly as he saw the look and had to admit the others were right. Silently he apologized and his friends accepted and their attention went back to the oldest man of the tribe.

"It´s- it´s...terrible!" he said, not amused looking at all.

Uh oh. That meant trouble for sure.

"What? What happened?" Zoro pressed.

Brook looked to the frozen ground, biting his lip in guilt. "Uh..I´m so sorry, Zoro-san...and the others..but it´s about Chopper.."

Immediately, all alarm bells rang in the nakama´s heads. Chopper? Wasn´t the little dog hurt badly and Brook had to treat him?

"WHAT? What´s with Chopper? Is he..." Nami´s eyes widened in shock. Not Chopper! The little dog had become a real friend, not only for Luffy but for the others as well! If something bad had happened to the husky... that would be terrible!

Franky lifted his sunglasses in shock. "Tell us, Brook-bro!"

Brook blinked as he stared in six pairs of worrying eyes and he lifted his hands, waving with wide eyes. "What? No no no! It´s not that! He had been fine until a few minutes ago, when I turned around to mix another medicine for him... he must´ve ran out of my tent...´cause he´s gone!"

Everyone gasped at this and at once they all knew what that meant...

Robin clenched her fists. She really had liked the little one! And if Chopper ran away after waking up and noticing Luffy wasn´t there then... then it wasn´t difficult to guess were the dog would try to run to...

"Fuck!" was all Luffy´s friends could say to that.

If Chopper ran back towards the strange castle (if he found it firstly) and Blackbeard or Crocodile noticed him there, then Chopper would be in trouble. In really big trouble.

They had beaten him up before and they would do it again. Probably even worse than before!

"Guys, we have to go NOW!" Nami stated as she turned towards Garp who was about to leave. After all, all of the strong warriors were ready to fight, weapons carrying.

Garp only nodded shortly towards them before he turned, also ready to give his best in the fight, lifting his bow as a symbolic gesture, and showed everyone it was time to leave.

As Franky and the others wanted to follow and turned, Brook stopped them again.

"Hold on!" he said. The six friends stopped, looking a bit annoyed. They had to hurry!

"We have to go now! We don´t have time! Don´t worry about Chopper, we´ll take care of him." Sanji said, wanting to leave already. Brook shook his head.

The old man, at least two meters tall, lifted a sword he once had gotten from a close friend of the tribe who had left a long time ago and made the others gasp slightly at that. Where the heck did he get that sword from? And did that mean Brook wanted to...

"Brook! Do you really wanna..." Usopp started but couldn´t finish.

Brook grinned. "Yes! I´ll fight along and support you as best as I can!" he stated and began to follow the other Indians. Zoro and the others exchanged quick glances, unsure as what to do or say. But then, the old guy was really strong, Usopp had told them once, and he had been really unhesitant. Defeated already because of the lack of time, the others didn´t respond to that but silently followed Garp and his men through the cold snow that reached their knees.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

" I think I have just found the great great secret of Akagami Shanks!"

Luffy´s eyes widened at that statement. At once, dozen of questions shot through his confused and tired mind. So they had found it..? So his father really had had a secret he hadn´t told him..?

Suddenly, Luffy felt bad. His beloved father hadn´t told him about his great secret? Why? Hadn´t he trusted his only son enough?

But these thoughts quickly were gotten rid of as Luffy realized this was nonsense, his father really had trusted him. There was no way Shanks wouldn´t have trusted him! Luffy thought with a frown. He was sure!

But then, Shanks hadn´t told him, so there must have been a really good reason _why_. So the strawhat boy couldn´t help but wondering what reason his father might have had..?

Crocodile smirked evilly. The did it! They got the secret! The man with his dark hair almost couldn´t believe it. This f****n secret they, no, he´d been searching for for such a long time! How long was it now? Ten years? He´d sacrifized ten precious years of his own life for it! He´d done everything for it, killed many people and even his own wife...

because she had been against the whole thing right from the beginning. So he hadn´t had another choice as killing her along many many other victims...

Just for this secret they were holding in their hands now! For a map!

But Crocodile wasn´t that caring about people´s life that he´d regret killing them. Not in the state he was in now, clearly signalizing greed. Greed for precious things.

"What exactly is it? Lemme see!" The man with the hook spat and went over to his ´partner´ who had the map still in his dirty hands. But mentioned partner quickly pulled it away from Crocodile´s greedy glances and hid it under his jacket.

Crocodile´s smirking expression immediately changed into a very unpleasant one.

"What the hell?" was all that left the man´s lips as he already attemped to hit Blackbeard into the face. But the other man was quicker, as if he had expected something like this coming, ducking and pulling a gun out at the same time. And as Crocodile, fist still out stretched to hit his partner who wasn´t there anymore but ducking under the arm, all of sudden felt a cold object pressing against his stomach, he could only freeze in his movements.

The foreign object being pressed against him was at once identified as soon as he felt it through his jacket. This was a gun!

Crocodile clenched his teeth in his anger. "You little bastard! We are partners, aren´t we? Why do you betray me?" he screamed, still not moved from his position.

Blackbeard stood up again, gun still pressed against his ex partner who glared at him. But the curly haired man only grinned back, showing three missing teeth.

"You assh-" but Crocodile´s insults suddenly were cut off as Blackbeard kicked him into the gut and sent him to the floor, coughing. Now Blackbeard´s smirk was fully gone, leaving a cold stare back.

Luffy just laid there, only able to watch. ´What´s going on there? Aren´t they partners?´ he thought. The coldness from the dirty ground was climbing up his body, his jacket and trousers no coldproof anymore. And without movement it was even colder. Pain rushed through his tired body that screamed for some heath and a bit rest but Luffy didn´t dare to fall asleep. Who knows what they or only one of them would do to him while he was asleep.. no, he would stay awake and look his enemies into the eyes no matter what!

Luffy´s glance wanderd to his half destroyed hat and he bit his lip at the sight of it. Blackbeard had stamped it into two pieces! This...!

What would Shanks say if he saw his beloved hat like this, full of dirt, his secret he hadn´t even told his son gone? How would he react? It had been _his hat_, after all... Shanks hat.

Luffy had no answer to that. His mind just didn´t seem to be in the state of answering questions, even if he thought really hard about it. It was no use, but then, he would have time enough to wonder about these kind of things later! Now his only ambiton was to reach his precious hat!

So the seventeen-years-old slowly but determined began crawling forwards. The distance between his hat and him were only a few meters, three maybe.

A quick glance at the two arguing men, one of them still being held at gunpoint. Luffy didn´t care, his mind was just focused onto the worn-out strawhat.

Even as his muscles, his limps, began screaming at him to stop moving, Luffy didn´t gave up and crawled as good as he could with his hands being tied behind his back, one of his shoulders probably dislocated by Crocodile, piece by piece forwards, the shapes of his hat coming nearer and nearer.

Crack. Luffy suddenly stopped as his shoulder cracked painfully and he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming. Now the pain in his arm didn´t stop at all, as if someone kept piercing knives into it. The seventeen-years-old inhaled deeply and then he began to move again, altough the pain was almost unbearable now. It hurt so damn much! But even though, Luffy stayed silent, no words, no whimper leaving his lips.

´Boshi boshi boshi (= hat in japanese, you probably already know^^)!´ was all he could think about.

And then, finally, after what seemed to be hours, he made it! His face lit up for a second as he was glad to have reached it without getting the two´s attention! But it immediately went dark again as he saw the shape his boshi was in. Blackbeard really had done another unforgiveable thing to him...

Shivering, he laid his head that felt undescribeable heavy at the moment down onto the pieces of his strawhat and sighed, trying to ignore the pain.

But suddenly, Blackbeard and Crocodile caught his attention again.

"You fucking jerk! Put that damn weapon down already! It´s not funny!" Crocodile screamed, sitting on the floor as the gun was directed at his head which was only two or three centimeters away from it.

"Shut it already. A man like you should know when to give up. You´ve lost, my dear ´partner´! Zehahaha!" the other man with the gun in his hand laughed dirty, the laughs echoeing back from the walls of the empty room. Crocodile didn´t find it funny at all, his hatred glare remained on his face.

"Plus, I know everything. Don´t play dumb with me! Do you think I´m that stupid and wouldn´t notice? I can see right through you and your faked mask of loyality for me!"

Crocodile´s eye twitched almost not noticeable, but Blackbeard caught it. " You know very well what I´m talking about!" then, the curly haired man leaned forwards so that the other with the long scar in his face could feel his breath on his neck, the gun never leaving Crocodile´s forehead.

"You planned on killing me, right? You wanted to get rid of me as soon as you got what you wanted. You just wanted to use me for searching for Shanks secret. But I have to disappoint you! Zehahaha! I´ve noticed! I´ve known that right from the beginning, since you and I decided to work together to get the secret!"

_*Little flashback, after they failed to rob from Garp´s tribe*_

_Alaska, not far away from the tribe:_

_"Fuckin´ shit! What kind of weaklings are you? How could you loose to a single man!" Crocodile shouted at his beaten men, he himself was holding his bleeding face were a long cut from the one ear to the other could be seen. To say that man was pissed off was an understatement! _

_He hated loosing more than anything! And how they had lost against this..red head guy, a single man, was unforgiveable!_

_Then he turend around, searching for his partner, Blackbeard. _

_"This guy is never here when I need him!" he yelled madly as he couldn´t find him between his hurt men. He cursed. _

_It was in the middle of July, the weather was (for Alaska´s climate) warm. The sun was just about to vanish behind the mountains, lighting a beautiful countryside once more before the darkness began to take over, slowly filling the sky._

_Then, after a few hours as it was already night and only Crocodile was awake, Blackbeard came back to their resting place, a smirk upon his face. _

_"Where the hell have you been? You just vanished after we got beaten by this friggin´ little pest!" Crocodile asked madly as the other man came to him and sat down besides him. _

_"I know I know... but don´t worry, we will get our revenge! And, to answer your question, I just felt there was something... I needed to know... to make it short and simple so that even you´ll understand, I observed this strange guy. I mean, I got suspicious, what was someone young like him doing in the middle of Alaska all on his own? He´s called Shanks Monkey, by the way, and he talked to the Indians who seem to like him... all I wanna say is that Shanks was talking about a precious treasure and it´s hidden somewhere here...he said he was carrying an important part of it the whole time..." _

_Crocodile´s expression lit up at the words ´precious treasure´ and got interested. "So.. we are going to get that treasure?" _

_"You got it. But first we have to find out where he is carrying it, and what it is! So we should get back to the next big city, take all strong men we can find, and catch Shanks Monkey! Then we´ll get the secret somehow out of him and get rid of these men," he pointed at the sleeping, beaten men around them, " and live a careless life as rich people! How does this sound?" Blackbeard asked, smirking. _

_Crocodile had to admit, it sounded interesting! But one thing made him suspicious:" Why did this Shanks talk about his ´oh-so-secret-treasure´? And in English?"_

_Blackbeard chuckled at that. _

_"He was drunken like hell and started babbling about it. I bet most of the Indian´s didn´t even understand any of the guy´s stuttering!"_

_*End of Flashback*_

"Don´t gimme that shit! I friggin´ know that already!" Crocodile yelled. He began sweating slightly. Blackbeard did never show any mercy and he was deadly serious at the moment...

´So... that´s how this whole shit began... ´ Luffy thought as he listened to the conversation, beginning to understand a little. But before he could think any further or Crocodile say any more, Blackbeard´s voice was heard again.

"You shouldn´t have underestimated me! You were just a toy for me, something useful and funny to watch you failing in killing me. But I don´t need you anymore now. I have what I wanted and I will find that treasure! But alone, without you! And after I´ve killed you and strawhat, then our men have to die. That´s been my plan since I learned Shanks had a hidden treasure! But you were too stupid and too focused at the secret you didn´t notice!"

A sadonic grin spread over the curly haired man´s face. Then he pressed the gun to Crocodile´s sweaty forehead making said man and Luffy gasp.

The seventeen-years-old gaped in shock. `He...is really going to shoot?` he thought, he hadn´t really believed that would happen, but...

"That bad mistake costs your life." were Blackbeard´s final words. Crocodile´s eyes widened and he shouted his last word in his life which happened to be an insult to Blackbeard, then said man pulled the trigger and shot his ex partner right between the eyes.

Again, Luffy gasped as he watched the terrible scene. Blood splattered around, on Blackbeards hand and gun, everywhere. It was a horrible and brutal thing to watch. The son of Shanks quickly shut his eyes, not wanting to see any more, wishing he wouldn´t have been the only witness to this violent murder. But it was already too late.

As Crocodile´s world went black forever, the dead body fell back to the ground were it formed a crimson pool around the head. Crocodile was dead. One of the most brutal and cold-hearted killer had died.

But Crocodile´s death was really ironic. Not only that he was murdered by his ex partner he´d planned to kill himself, but the fact that this man, who´d shot many innocent people to death as the monster he´d been, was killed the same way as his victims was something he would have never expected.

But then, Sir Crocodile never had been a man to think closely about something.

Blackbeard, on top of the wanted list of the government, on the other hand seemed everything but shocked or sad. And why wouldn´t he, everything´s fine and just as he´d planned it! He couldn´t be happier! The curly haired man with the ugly face was still smirking at Crocodile´s dead body whose eyes were still wide open in shock. Blood was running down his face and dripped to the floor.

Suddenly, Blackbeard broke into a laughing fit which made Luffy turn his head away in disgust and hate. This man was just so...wrong! How could he laugh at something like this?

Luffy closed his eyes, trying to think of something else, trying to imagine he was somewhere else. With his friends and his family and the tribe... and eating something. Meat! At once, Luffy´s very empty stomach grumbled.

Not only because of that but because of Blackbeard he was taken back to reality as the man he hated so much started babbling, more to himself than to Luffy. It seemed as if he had forgotten the teen was still there.

"Zehahaha! See? I was the stronger one! And now, look at you! You look just exactly like this fat whore Alvida!" the man laughed and seemed to have become completely crazy. Then, his laughter died down in an instant as if he´d remembered something important, he turned to Luffy who bit his lip.

He bent down to the teen and grabbed his hair to pull Luffy´s head up. "Did you enjoy the show? Now it´s your turn." Blackbeard said, smirking as if he was the best. Luffy only glared at this man, not wanting to look him into the face.

"What have you done? You kill and laugh about it!" Luffy began to yell, Blackbeard´s smirk still to be seen which made the boy even madder. He couldn´t stand that man! Sure, Luffy had hated Crocodile to no end and wished he could be beat the shit out of that brutal man, but the way Blackbeard killed him just made him furious. Blackbeard took a man´s life away and found it funny. That´s what made the strawhat teen even more pissed than before.

"You´re sick. You´re really sick and totally insane! What the fucking hell is wrong with your head that you are doing such things? Does this make you happy?" he yelled at his enemy, one of the two murderers of his parents and Ace. "You´re a damn asshole! But one thing is for sure: you won´t find my father´s secret! You won´t have it!"

That was enough for Blackbeard. He hit the teen with the gun onto his forehead, leaving a laceration on it. But Luffy didn´t make any sound as the blood began to run down his face. He had promised to himself.

The tall man kicked the teen into his gut, making said one gasp and cough up blood. And Blackbeard didn´t stop. Luffy got kicked into the face and stomach, he didn´t make a sound.

As Luffy got another shoe into his face he spat blood onto the floor. The pain was rushing through his body and he couldn´t make out from were it came. Luffy shut his eyes. His entire body hurt like hell and he wanted so badly to just close his eyes and simply sleep. So that his pain would go away. So that he wouldn´t have to see _this face_ again. So that he would wake up, all sadness, pain and sorrow gone forever, and see his nakama. Luffy wanted to wake up from this nightmare!

But he wouldn´t. As he opened his eyes he found himself still on the cold ground, Blackbeard leaning over him with a smirk upon his ugly face. He found his pain still there. Neither the physical pain nor the aching in his heart were gone. Why did it hurt so much? Luffy sighed deeply, gulping a bit of blood down. He hated that iron taste.

He suddenly couldn´t help but wonder how his nakama were. Were they alright? Or did Blackbeard betray him, too, and just killed them instead of letting them free as he had promised? What about Robin? Had she really betrayed them? She wouldn´t do that. She was forced by this ass. But what did they do to her?

What about Chopper? His little beloved husky?

Thousands of unanswered questions shot through his head at once so that he feared it would explode! He could hear the blood rushing through his head. Blood ran down his face.

"Don´t worry, your pain will end soon. You don´t have to suffer anymore." Blackbeard spoke in a deep but somewhat amused voice.

"Y-you are insane." Luffy managed to say although he felt like he had no more strenght to even blink. But he wouldn´t show this guy weakness!

"Fuck you!" was the answer and another fist made contact with his aching face. Luffy fell back to the ground without a noise which seemed to piss the other off to no end.

"You little...! Good-for-nothing brat! I bet your friends don´t even miss you! They are happy to get rid off you, you know that?" the tall man with the curly black hair shouted at Luffy whose face was hidden in shadows. The small candle didn´t spend much light, but enough to see your own hand. It flared.

Although his face wasn´t to be seen, Blackbeard knew it was affecting the teen when he said such things. After all, the strawhat boy was just human!

"What was that? Did you gasp? You didn´t know that before, did you? How funny... you sacrifice your own pathetic life to save your friends´ asses and they just forget about you as soon as they got free! I bet they´re having a nice party at the moment, enjoying life without a little useless brat like you are! Poor, poor boy! Why are you even living if no one wants you alive?" Blackbeard teased, grinning as he leaned over the boy who hadn´t even enough strenght to shiver at the coldness.

´Wh-what? They´re partying..?´ Luffy thought, eyes widen. But funny enough, his heart didn´t ache at these words... what was wrong with it? It was cruel what he said, so why did he start to feel better? An imagine of him and his nakama flashed through his tired mind and suddenly he realized something.

As Blackbeard watched the exhausted teen suddenly standing up, blood dripping down his body, his arrogant smirk fell and he frowned deeply. This brat... where did he get this strenght from? He shouldn´t be able to move at all!

Luffy stood up, although his legs did shake a lot and his limbs screamed at him for moving. But his mind and heart cheered for him.

The strawhat teen lifted his head, eyes no longer hidden in shadows, releaving a stare at Blackbeard who looked him directly into the eyes, unbelieving.

"You...! What´s wrong with you? Didn´t I beat you up?" Blackbeard screamed desperated, beginning to not understand what was going on in this brat´s mind.

Luffy didn´t send a death glare nor a cold-hearted stare. He simply looked at his enemy. Then, without a sound, he smiled. He just smiled.

The other man´s eyes widened and he frowned even more at that. ´He...smiles? Did I damage his brain or something?´ he thought confused and taken aback at this action.

"You will never be able to beat me! I won´t give up!" Luffy stated, the smile never leaving his face. His body shaked at the lack of energy, but Luffy didn´t went limp.

Luffy stood tall and proud despite the state he was in. Blackbeard could only gape and stare in shock. He´d seen many surprising things and a lot of brave people, but none of them did ever such an unbelieveable thing.

"You can do or say what ever you want. I don´t care. I don´t feel pain or sad anymore. Because I know it is not true what you say. I know my friends are safe and that they would never do such a thing. Because we are nakama, we are family. We can trust each other, no matter what! Not like you and Crocodile, you tried to betray each other just to get something that doesn´t even belong to you!" he said in a strong tone, leaving Blackbeard stunned.

The murderer of Crocodile knitted his brows in confusen and slowly, anger began building up inside of him. That boy pissed him off!

He hit him once again into the face. But Luffy didn´t back away, nor fall to the ground like before. He didn´t went limb.

And, he didn´t stop smiling. He turned his head back to the killer, looking him into the eyes again. Blackbeard clenched his fists angrily.

"Like I said, I don´t care. You should learn to listen better to what other people say. So listen closely to what I have to say!" Luffy said, before he added:

"I believe in my friends as they believe in me! And I know Shanks wouldn´t want me to give up yet!" he yelled at Blackbeard who sent a glare at the boy.

"So I won´t give up no matter what! I won´t die, no matter how hard you try! I know there is still something left to live for!" Luffy shouted, giving a determined aura off. The man known as Marshall with real name boiled in anger. He couldn´t help but feel a little respect of this teenager which pissed him off! He didn´t want to have respect of someone else! He´d never had respect for someone, so why of this brat? Blackbeard couldn´t think straight anymore. Then the boy before him, hands still tied behind his back, shouted determined and loud:

"And you will never be able to break me!"

**YYXYXYXYXYXY**

**I hope you enjoyed this extra-long chapter =D **

**I know that Garp is really really out of character, but he won´t be forever like that. **

**And now little explanation to Crocodile and Blackbeard: These two have already been working together before they got to know Shanks. They had met when they were young, both without family, and decided to first rob from people, later they killed them. They had become more cruel and finally turned out cold-hearted as they are now (sounds dramatic, doesn´t it?). **

**Then they´d planned to search for gold (long time before the official gold rush in Alaska began) but as they failed they and their men didn´t want to leave Alaska with empty hands and attacked Usopps and Robin´s tribe to steal women or men to sale them or simply look out for precious stuff, but the tribe was defended and protected by Shanks who suddenly appeared and defeated them. **

**If there are any more questions left, then please don´t hesitate to ask! :)**

**Reviews are always welcomed! :D**


	25. The secret is

**So sorry for the long pause again! **

**First of all, thanks to everyone who reviewed! You are great =DD**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Yep...Blackbeard is just cruel! Well,you got that right! :D**

**mugiwara-christal: Yes yes...but there´s a good reason why they take too long^^ (I hope I understood right, if not, then sorry =) )**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Well, I guess none expected that^^ This story is full of surprises! (I hope lol) :)**

**secrethearts: Thank you very much! Really? Sounds good^^ Tell me when you´ve updated your story, okay? :)**

**Disclaimer: I don´t own One Piece, it belongs to Oda-sensei!**

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Chapter 25 - The secret is...**

The seven friends were walking right behind the Indian warriors, talking about this and that and desperately tried to think of something nice. That was when suddenly Robin spoke up, gaining the other´s attention.

"Ne, Minna, I know it´s late, probably too late, but...I wanted to apologize for my earlier actions." Robin said as she walked besides her nakama. Zoro just rose a brow at the female Indian but kept his mouth shut. Sanji, of course, forgave the beauty immediately and expressed that in form of his famous ´noodle dance´. This however caused Nami and Usopp to roll their eyes.

"No need for apologizing. We know you were forced by them." Nami spoke up, managing a soft and true smile which brought Robin to smile, too. Franky and the long-nosed Indian smiled in agreement.

"That´s right.. I got somehow caught by them before and they told me if I wanted to safe my tribe then I would have to help them catching Luffy...You already knew?" she asked, although she already had guessed that.

"You don´t need to be Edison to realize they blackmailed you." the orange haired girl said again, making Franky, Usopp and Sanji rise their eyebrows.

"Who?"

"Maaan...you don´t know him?" Nami moaned, slightly annoyed.

Robin just giggled and Nami sighed in defeat. It seemed when Luffy was not there then others would take his playing dump part.

The swordsman rolled his eyes, annoyed by the others, especially by his brother.

"You stupid or somethin´? Haven´t you heard of Thomas Edison before? He´s famous you moron! He´s the guy who invented that bulb stuff!" Zoro grumbled annoyed, only adressing his blondie-brother.

Sanji bit his last cigarette in anger, his visible eye twitching. "What was that, Crap-swordsman?"

"Don´t make me repeat, you curly-deaf-blondie!" Zoro said arrogantly and the next moment the two brothers were busy with fighting and insulting each other.

"GUYS!" Nami yelled but it was no good.

The black-haired woman giggled. She found it somehow interesting how the two brothers always invented new insults.

"What´s so funny about that?" the orange-haired girl shouted, blood boiling.

"How creative they are!" the female Indian commented and irritated Nami with that. "Eh?" was the confused answer.

"Ha ha ha! OF COURSE do I know Edison! Who doesn´t know that guy? I was just kidding!" Usopp said, being in his ´I am a great warrior and I know everything!´ state and he was just being ignored.

Franky, luckily, stopped the brothers actions who were really pissed to say the least. "Safe your energie for the fight! It´s not the time anyway!" the blue-haired-man told them who babbled a not audioable answer.

"Yohohoho~! What an interesting relationship you have!" Brook said almost happy, but more surprised. Usopp smiled at his friend.

"You´ll get used to them." he said with a smirk.

Before anyone could answer, Robin shut them up with following words.

"Look! We´re there!"

Finally, after walking the long way to there, the Indians and Luffy´s nakama arrived at the strange castle. As soon as it came in sight it sent small shivers down everyone´s spine. Just the view of it was somewhat creepy.

A dark and old looking building in the middle of nowhere, in this arctic desert like area, half-snowbounded. Who would want to build a castle at a remote and cold place? And the main question: Why ? What on earth was the reason to do so? None of them could answer that.

But on the other hand they all knew how insane Blackbeard and Crocodile were - so why spending time wondering about their crazy actions?

"Alright, we´re there. Be prepared for a bloody and long fight with really cruel enemies! Our main enemies are Crocodile and Blackbeard, don´t forget that! These two monsters have many many innocent men who are forced by them to fight, so try to only attack the two heads!

I don´t know how many they are, but I know that no matter if there´s hundred or thousands of them, we´ll win!" Garp started, encouraging his warriors a lot.

Usopp roughly and quickly translated into English as the chief spoke in a special Indian language. Robin smiled at her chief. The old guy´s spirit was back finally!

"Alright, guys! Now ya can fight!" Franky commented to Sanji and Zoro who simply nodded in return.

The nakama inhaled the cool air one more time, preparing to fight, before Garp lifted his arm, a weapon in his hand, shouting:

"Let´s go!" many loud cheers echoed through the cold air and everyone followed as the old chief began to run towards the wooden door of the castle.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

"Zehahahaha! Isn´t it great? Isn´t it absolutely fantastic?" Blackbeard yelled amused, his eyes wide.

Luffy found himself speechless. He couldn´t help but thinking many things at the same time. His thoughts raced through his tired mind and he found himself not being able to stop them from doing so. Luffy was confused to say the least.

His hands were handcuffed and there was no way he could flee. But truth be told: At the moment he just didn´t feel like fleeing. Maybe this sounded strange or ridiculous but then, who could blame him in a situation like this?

A few questions shot through his head: What about his nakama? His mother´s tribe? What about Chopper? He really wanted to know where they were and what they were doing. Were they worrying for him? Searching for him? Were they alright? He bit his lip. There was another important question as he gulped down, inhaling as much as possible of the chilling air around him.

So... this was the secret? His beloved father´s secret he´d been hiding for so many years?

Blackbeard laughed once again, his breath could be seen due to the cold air.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"This must be the door with Luffy right?" Franky asked as he stopped in front of a wooden door that was locked. The others rolled their eyes but before anyone could respond, the green-haired man had already sliced it in two.

"Don´t waste your time with stupid questions!" Zoro said and went in, ready to fight the bastards that had kidnapped Luffy.

"Nice job, Zoro!" Nami commented and the nakama ran in quickly. Now they would beat the shit out of Crocodile and his partner! Now they could finally free Luffy!

"Luffy!" Usopp yelled happily into the room. At the moment he really didn´t give a damn if there were two dangerous and strong men with him. All that counted for him right now was that they could help him and see him again! Everything would be all right from now on!

Unfortunately, he got no answer. They found the room dark and, much to their dislike, very quiet. In fact, too quiet.

"Damn it all!" Sanji cursed loudly, not caring if there was a lady present at the moment. But Nami didn´t care, she and the others had other problems. And if Nami was honest, then she felt like cursing and swearing now, too.

"This is..." Usopp began, not finishing his sentence as he and the other nakama entered the dark room. They had gotten some candles thanks to Nami and could see enough to say that the room was completely empty. If you exclude a bloody corpse of Crocodile, a broken chair and a small candle on the floor.

"What on earth happened here?" Franky wanted to know, lifting his dark sunglasses to see better in the darkness. But what he saw wasn´t nice so he turned his glance away from Crocodile.

"This fucking asshole!" the blond cook sweared again, not liking this at all: The room were they had to leave Luffy with the two bastards was empty! There was no Blackbeard, no Luffy... only blood splattered on the floor. As the young man bent down to get a better look at the destroyed chair he immediately knew what must have happened here and gritted his teeth in hate as he stared at the not too dry blood.

"They must´ve left not too long ago by the looks of the blood." Zoro said, glaring down at the corpse of the man with the golden hook. But Zoro didn´t feel sorry for the man, not at all. He knew this guy had been a real bastard so this was what he deserved. Snorting, he closed his eyes.

"What..are we going to do now?" Usopp said, fighting with tears. "He´s taken Luffy with him, right? He´s...still alive, right?" he asked, sobbing slightly. The young Indian didn´t like this place at all!

They had managed to fight their way through the followers of Crocodile and Blackbeard towards this room in the cellar where Luffy had been supposed to be.

Unfortunately they were hit by the horrofied truth: Not only they found a corpse, Crocodile, brutally murdered but also Blackbeard and Luffy gone without a trace!

Garp didn´t even know that his grandson was missing. He and his brave men were still busy with fighting against the so called The Black´s Baroque - their worst enemy´s men.

"Shut your mouth! Don´t even think about it!" Nami shrieked and glared at the long-nosed Indian for saying something like this. "Luffy´s alive, got it? We´ll find him!"

"H-hai!" Usopp said, nodding. He so hoped that the orange haired girl was right. He wiped away his tears and clenched his fist. He would make sure Luffy was alright! He would help as best as he could!

"My god..." came quietly from Robin and the other nakama´s attention was on her in no time. The Indian was kneeling on the dirty ground, carefully lifting an all too familiar object. Nami and Usopp gasped, Zoro remained silent but slightly shocked and Sanji and Franky both bit their lips in anger.

"Don´t tell me that´s..." Nami began, a hand covering her mouth as she neared Robin and the ripped-in-two object. Robin only nodded with an emotionless expression.

"Yes. It´s Luffy´s strawhat."

"These...!" Franky grumbled. The tall man knew very well how much the old hat meant to Luffy as well as the others. And seeing it in that shape.. made them furious. Not only that, Blackbeard had taken their friend to god-know-where! How were they supposed to find the teen like that? And if they found him eventually, would he be alive?

Franky shaked his head to get rid off these thoughts. "Bro´s and Si´s, we should tell the old man and go for a search as fast as possible! Staying in this depressing room won´t bring Strawhat-bro back ya know! So let´s go!" he said and the others agreed without protest.

Franky was absolutely right. They shouldn´t give up yet! The little group of friends stormed out of the castle only to find a big war going on outside. Zoro abprubtly stopped as he saw the terrifying scene before them.

There were a lot more men than they´d expected to be! And it seemed more as a massacre than a battle! Blood splattered here and there, colouring the white snow in deep crimson. Battle cries and shouts of pain echoed through the air. It was an awful sight and the nakama gasped in shock.

All above, the brave and strong Indians seemed to be less than the huge amounts of enemie´s! It didn´t look very good for the Indians, no at all!

"Oh my god!" was all Usopp could manage to say as he gasped, eyes widened in horror. "D-do they even know one of their bosses is dead? And the other´s gone?"

Silence was all he got as a reply, but then Usopp hadn´t really expected someone to answer. He could guess himself. It was more than obvious they didn´t knew, otherwise there wouldn´t be a reason to fight.

"W-what should we do? This is terrible!" Nami said, grabbing her head as she quickly turned away.

"Let´s go!" Zoro suddenly said and turned to run towards the other direction - into the forest. His nakama, especially his brother, looked after him as if he was completely insane and started to follow him.

"Zoro! Where are you running to?" Nami shrieked nervous, clenching her nails into Luffy´s worn out strawhat she was holding tightly onto her breast.

"Wait a minute! What the hell are you doing? What about helping them? Are you really that blind or what? They are going to lose!" Sanji shouted madly as he and the others finally caught up with him, grabbing his brother´s arm to stop the marimo.

Zoro turned around instantly, grabbing the curly-eyebrowed´s collar. "And what the hell are YOU doing? What about helping Luffy?" he yelled and Sanji flinched slightly at the swordsman´s sudden rude and harsh tone. Robin, standing behind Zoro, nodded.

"Kenshi-san´s right. It is a very difficult situation indeed, but we have to save Luffy first. Then we can help Garp-san and the others. Besides, our tribe isn´t weak, they are really strong and proud fighters." she spoke in a calm but firm voice.

Sanji gave in. "... All right. But we have to hurry" Somehow Robin-chwan and Zoro were right, Luffy was the main reason they were fighting, but still... leaving the brave Indians wasn´t an easy thing to do. And to make it worse: they didn´t even have a clue in which direction Blackbeard and Luffy went...

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"So you little trash, this is Shanks secret! Are you surprised?" Blackbeard smirked at the shocked strawhat teen. It was dark but the ugly man had a big torch lit so that Luffy could perfectly make out the other´s face. But he wished it wasn´t so bright so that he wouldn´t have to see that..._face_.

"Th-this is it...? This is the reason you´ve killed my parents and my brother...? The reason why you´ve observed me for so long?" Luffy asked in almost a whisper. Blackbeard nodded, showing some of his missing teeth.

"It is. Isn´t it great?" the tall man said, lifting his arms as he looked around himself.

Luffy bit his lip as he felt tears forming in his eyes. He kneeled down on the ground. He´d already known it as it came in sight not too long ago, as Blackbeard had taken him with him to see his father´s secret as a last moment in his life. Of course Luffy had struggled for dear life but it had been useless. And now he was there again, in this cold and dark place, not wanting it to be true.

In fact, his father´s great secret, Akagami Shank´s secret, was the very cave Usopp and himself had discovered not too long ago! The same cave where they´d had an argument, the same cave where they had found the huge amount gold everywhere! And that was the reason Blackbeard and Crocodile had wanted the mine so much! Because of something almost every single human longes for: Money.

Blackbeard´s laugh echoed through his head, he could feel his heart beating loudly. It was too much! This stupid stupid cave! It was the beginning of this whole shit! He couldn´t help but remembering the argument with Usopp. Luffy hit the ground with his fist, furious and unbelievable sad at the same time. Disappointed.

But of course not in his father, Shanks, nor in his friends. The strawhat teen was completely disappointed in himself. He remembered the little fight with Usopp very well, and he had the same aim as his worst enemy! Luffy hated himself in that moment more than anyone else in the world.

How could he? How could he have thought the same way as _this man _and his damned partner?

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

_I hope Luffy´s alright..._

"Garp-san, behind you!" one of the Indians, a young man with a beautiful face, shouted towards his chief. Mentioned old man, snapping out of his thoughts, managed to duck and beat the man that had tried to attack him from behind.

"Thanks!" he said, grinning slightly. Then Garp added:" What a coward." and grumbled at the dead man.

Then the old chief sighed, wiping blood from his forehead. The battle was slowly reaching it´s climax and to say that it wasn´t an easy job to fight against these men was a complete understatement! It was harder than expected, but giving up was out of question for both sides! Especially for the Indians who had been suffering under these two men and their poor followers for quite a long time. They had decided to break the chains they´d been handcuffed with and finally fight to be free! And not only for themselves, but for the sake of their chief´s long lost grandson, Monkey D. Luffy!

He´s been Nayeli, who had been respected and loved by everyone in the tribe, only son, so it´s only natural for them to fight for Luffy. On top of that it would make their emotionless and mentally broken down chief happy and maybe he would find his courage to live on again.

"I wonder if they´ll come..." Garp said absently, looking towards the sky as if there he would get an answer. Then he closed his eyes, deeply inhaling one more time  
before he opened them again at once and began to fight alongside his brave men again.

_They will come. I´m sure they will, even if we have been enemies for so long. They will fight with us and then everything´s going to be okay again. _

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

"He is nowhere to be seen! Let´s search somewhere else!" Nami decided, stopping abprubtly. Her nakama turned to her, agreeing. The little group had been searching in a huge forest but there was no trace of Blackbeard or Luffy.

"At least there must be a footprint or something. Anything!" Sanji commented as the blonde scratched his head in thought. It was impossible to vanish like this! They must have overlooked something!

"Where would you go if you where Blackbeard?" Usopp asked Franky out of the blue who just shaked his head.

"Err..no idea" the man answered.

"Hmm..what is his plan? What does this man intent to do? And why has Luffy to go with him? There must be a reasonable explanation" the long nose began to think further but his thoughts were interrubted by a certain orange-haired girl.

"Usopp! That´s not the time for such bad jokes!" she yelled, not happy with his acting at all.

"Ow! Nami! I was being serious!" came a whine as an answer. The Indian rubbed his head.

"Maybe nagahana-kun is not so wrong," said Robin, " if we figure out what happened back than and why exactly Blackbeard took Luffy with him then perhaps we can find out where they went to."

"Huh?" Nami frowned. "You serious?"

Robin simply ignored the girl´s question. "I guess he found out about Shanks´ secret.. hadn´t he and Crocodile been after it? No one seemed to know what it was except for the two men." she explained. "Anyways, if they figured it out, then it´s clear what happened next."

"Blackbeard killed Crocodile." Zoro said, arms crossed over his chest. Slowly, he and the others got what Robin was trying to do. Maybe it would help?

"Yes!" Usopp said, " and next he decided to leave the castle to... show Luffy his father´s secret because after all, Luffy hadn´t known about it...Does that make sense?" he asked the others, not sure himself.

"It does.. that´s very likely to have happened." Robin encouraged him, smiling slightly. They were nearing the most important part!

"But we have to know what the secret is and how they found out! Luffy didn´t know about it, remember? So how did they suddenly knew?" Franky meant, not liking to think so much at once.

"Where would you hide your biggest secret?" Franky asked more himself than the others.

"You´re right. The important part is missing.." Nami sighed, watching her breath in the freezing air. It was really chilling in the forest and she began to feel her cold and hurting feet. Before, the female teenager hadn´t noticed in the whole stress but now that they were standing.. she rubbed her arms.

"Well,..." Sanji started, an idea beginning to form in his mind. He stared at the half-destroyed strawhat in Nami´s hands and soon everyone else followed his glance."

"Right! What about the strawhat? It looks like something-" Usopp began as he got the same idea as the blond cook, but was interrupted by the same.

"- like something had been inside of it." the young man with the curly eyebrow finished, nodding slightly. Yes, it would make sense.

"Yosh! Why not? That´s a good idea!" Franky grinned.

"Uhm.. maybe... err... gold? Or diamonds..?" Usopp suggested but at the same time he knew it was wrong.

"Nuh-uh, Usopp-bro.."

"... what kind of secret could have had the right size to fit inside of the strawhat? Plus, it must have been something soft or at least nothing that would break easily. Something not too heavy either." Zoro reminded his nakama as he eyed the strawhat where everyone else´s glance rested on.

That was the point where the nakama had to stop. What could fit in a hat? Something light? Something you can´t feel? What kind of secret was that small and unimpressive but very precious at the same time?

After a few minutes of thinking, the Indian beauty named Robin had the essential idea.

"It didn´t have to be the secret itself, maybe a hint, where it is" the female Indian said as she was looking thoughtfully at the hat. None of her nakama had the chance to answer as Robin herself was quicker.

"It must have been a simple and small map." she said. A small smile appeared on her lips. That was it. That was the important thing.

Her nakama also smiled at that. "Robin, you´re a genious do you know that?" Nami complimented and Franky showed the thump-up at the Indian who giggled.

"So.. a special kind of treasure map?" the eighteen-years-old girl said and the others nodded in agreement. That´s the point! Now... a treasure map of what?

The happy atmosphere however didn´t last long as the long nosed Indian interrupted. He gulped down. "Guys... I think I know what Shanks secret is.."

All eyes turned to the curly-haired guy, holding their breathes in excitement. "Spit it out, Usopp!" Nami said, wanting to hear what it was.

"Well... I´ve told you about the strange cave Luffy and me had found.." the others nodded, " ehmm, yeah, ... I think, Crocodile and Blackbeard wanted the gold mine that had belonged to no one else than Shanks!"

**YXYXYXYYXYXYX**

**Soo, the great secret is finally told! You surprised? Well, I hope so :3 Maybe it wasn´t that great, but I thought it was... not so bad after all^^ **

**Hope you liked the idea and if not, then maybe the rest of the chapter? **

**Reviews are, of course, always greatly appreciated! =D**

**So please leave a comment ;D!**


	26. Is this the end?

**Hello people :D I got new ideas for the fic so I'm back finally ;) **

**mugiwara christal: Oh, Merci again :D thank you for your kind comment :)**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Yeah, right?^^ Oh they will.. but there's a surprise coming soon! :D**

**secrethearts: Great to hear! Hmm sounds not bad, but sorry, I have already planned how it will go on ;) But Thanks for the advice! =D Cool, I'm looking forwarts it! Don't forget the short ones can be the most brilliant ones^^**

**Thank you all for your support, I really appreciate that a lot :DD**

**Warnings: Well, a very insane Blackbeard (nothing new) and.. hopefully an exciting plot! =D**

**Disclaimer: Don't own One Piece! Belongs to a genius named Eiichiro Oda!**

**YXYXYXYXYXYX**

**Chapter 26 - Is this the end?**

"What!" Sanji gasped surprised. He couldn't believe his ears! The whole shit because of nothing else but money? But well, if he thought about it, it wasn't that rare to kill for gold... it was common, especially during the gold rush. But still, it seemed so wrong, so unreal to him, it was hard to believe. The cook looked around, watching everyone else and noticed the others were thinking exactly the same.

"That was... well.. unexpected.." Nami babbled somewhat irritated. She didn't know what she had awaited, but thought more about an extremely important document or a map of an old pirate treasure with gold and, all above, diamonds! But then, this version of secret was more realistic so she quickly forgot about her dream visions.

"Poor Luffy..." Usopp murmured. He couldn't help but wonder how his friend must feel right now. He sighed deeply, before gulping in fear. "Guys.. do you think he'll make it..?"

For a few minutes there was a heavy silence growing around the shivering friends. The nakama knew what the Indian had meant by that, it was obvious. They all exchanged glances, thinking they had to say something, reassure Usopp that it was nonsense, Luffy will survive no matter what he was going through right now. But they found themselves at a loss of words, their throats dry. Their tongue wouldn't move and say something. They stood there in a small circle for a while, staring at each other or just into the darkness around them.

It was really cold, the cool air kept on making them freezing, ears, nose and other parts of their bodies hurt a lot. But there was no way they would give up now. Consequently, they tried ignoring the pain or the screams of their exhausted bodies that told them to go and sleep for a while.

After they would get Luffy back and beaten up that Blackbeard, after they would win the war together with the brave Indians, after everything would be fine again, then they could relax and sleep for a while, not before that. None of them complained, it was more like a silent agreement between the friends. And giving up was, of course, out of question.

Avoiding the question Usopp had asked, the friends wondered which way to go now and decided to ask the long-nosed Indian right back.

"So Usopp, where was that cave again? Do you think you are able to find it?" Sanji asked in a serious tone as if he wanted a clear 'yes!' from Usopp. The Indian of course got that hint but wasn't so sure himself. He faltered, concentrating with all of his might on the direction where the cave was. Fortunately, he, having a great sense of direction, remembered the right way and impressed his friends with that as Usopp dashed was rather unusual for him, but his friends didn't complain and just followed silently.

"This way! I'm sure. We'll be there in no time, you'll see!" he said, proud of himself that he knew which way to go, even though it was pitch black around themselves.

"Well then, here we go! Wait for us, Luffy-san!" Brook cheered and added his famous and for most of the others annoying way of laughing. "Yohohoho~!"

It wasn't that of a happy situation they were in, but the old Indian seemed to give off an cheerful aura that reminded of Luffy's aura. Maybe it wasn't so bad Brook was with them, so at least one of them always seemed to be optimistic.

So the seven nakama ran through the dark forest, the moon coming out every now and then and lightened their way up a bit. They weren't sure if they would find their missing friend there, but they were pretty damn sure if Blackbeard was there, then they would give him a piece of their minds!

**YXYXYXYXYXY**

"What's wrong with you? Sad that your oh-so-great daddy didn't tell you about that? About the world's richest gold vein? Alas, you are so unlucky to have such a bad father! Seems like Shanks wasn't concerned about his only son's future, was he? Zehahaha!" Blackbeard babbled without stopping, a greedy look upon his ugly face as he touched the gold around them. HIS gold, only shining for him in the dim light. Or so he thought.

The cruel, spoken words echoed through the cave, repeating mercilessly again and again until they weren't heard anymore. It was when Blackbeard opened his big mouth to say nonsense and insults again, but this time he was roughly interrupted by a certain strawhat boy.

Said boy had been sitting on the cold ground, watching his worst enemy with hateful glares and thought of his nakama to not go and kill himself right there. He was really down at the moment and the stupid drivel from Blackbeard didn't help him to cheer up at all. But when the tall man with the curly hair had began to talk about his father -Shanks - in that kind of way, something in Luffy's mind had set out and his body gave him a big adrenaline push. Luffy gritted his teeth in anger and then he saw Blackbeard was about to continue insulting Shanks and Luffy just saw red.

The seventeen-year-old jumped up all of sudden and punched Blackbeard right into his face. The hit was surprisingly hard and now Blackbeard hadn't had three teeth missing anymore but four now!

Angry and taken aback from that, the man yelped and fell backwards to the ground. The man spit out a tooth and blood dripped down from his mouth.

"You little pest! What the hell?" he yelled, glaring at the boy who stood before him with hateful eyes glancing at him. Luffy stood on shaky legs, sending a killing aura off. The half-lightened cave shadowed most of Luffy's face so they strawhat teen looked even more pissed off and somewhat a bit creepy.

"Shut up! Shut up finally! You of all people have absolutely no right to talk about Shanks in such a bad way! And don't try talking about him like that again, you bastard! He was a great father!" Luffy shouted as he could feel his body protesting against him. He was completely tired and panted hard after his actions.

"Screw you and your stupid father. I don't care if he was so great, you hear me? The only thing I care about is me and the gold! And don't you dare and threaten me!"

The man shouted back and looked in such a dangerous way that even a bear would've stepped back and be scared of this guy. But Luffy didn't give a damn anymore, the only thing he didn't want was being like a rabbit, hiding or running away from the big, scary wolf.

Truth be told, Luffy really had enough of running away from him. He wouldn't do that anymore, he'd act proud and walk tall, even if he was in pain or scared. He'd hide it or scream inwardly until the fear vanished. He'd show Blackbeard what kind of loser Blackbeard was and that he would never really win, even if he would kill him now.

Blackbeard on the other hand noticed this and this caused him to get even more angry. "Who do you think are you? You are nothing, less than trash who doesn't deserve to live, none of your friggin' friends does! I'm gonna kill you and when your friends appear here and think they can save you then I'll show them your pathetic corpse and kill them right away! Then let's see who laughs last!" he yelled madly, thinking with that he'd win.

As Luffy heard this, he felt an uncomfortable stabbing pain inside his heart, but the next moment courage and selfconfidence was ruling inside him. He didn't exactly know where it was coming from, this strange physic power, but it made him feel better and made him standing up against the cruel killer.

He smiled, realizing something he should have realized earlier. Blackbeard narrowed his eyes, grumbling under his breath as he watched the strange teen who looked like he'd collapse every moment. What was this brat planning now?

"You are really stupid. I don't give a damn about the names you give me, nor how you keep insulting me and others. And if you go on hitting me or screaming at me, keep in mind that you will never be able to break me! The gold you longed for for so many years of your life is nothing but metal.

Metal that is _'precious' _because the _world thinks _it's precious. But they don't know it better. It's not really precious if you don't have someone, _anyone_ with whom you can share it!" Luffy said in the most serious tone he could manage at this moment.

Blackbeard first was stunned at how clever these words had seemed, coming out of Luffy's mouth. But then, he didn't care about these kinds of oh-so-wise-speech, he'd heard that too often before and thought about it. But he had already decided which way to go when he was young. There were two ways to choose, the hard way but being honest, nice and helpful. Of course he chose the easy one, being a dirty liar, a betrayer and greedy.

That's what most of the people did, and why should he do any better? Why should he try to work hard if no one works hard? He wasn't lonely, there were plently of people he knew, like Crocodile.

So Blackbeard didn't really regret anything he'd done. And, as he began smirking at the teen with the shaky legs, he knew he wouldn't regret what he would do to him.

"Shut up! Little asshole." Blackbeard murmured and Luffy caught the slowly darkening aura around the greedy man. From then on the boy could feel that Blackbeard was planning on doing something really bad...

Luffy got the idea, of course he did. It had been clear from the beginning, so he wasn't that surprised after all.

But still, knowing you'd be killed now was not such a nice feeling... not after you've just promised yourself and other you hold dear that you would go on, no matter what.

Luffy took a small step back as Blackbeard came nearer. The cold wind from outside reached his freezing skin and made a high and scary sound. A shiver went down his spine wherever it was caused by that man or the wind. Luffy coughed, then he gulped quietly.

Hadn't he just recovered from pneumonia from which he'd almost died? Oh yeah, he didn't have to worry about that anymore. How could he forget.

Then the tall man with the curly, black hair, which fitted very well to his dark soul by the way, stood directly before him. As if in a flash, Luffy's life went over before his inward eyes. Suddenly, the teenager felt really uncomfortable, all the courage was about to leave him. A bad feeling began to form inside himself, growing with every breath Blackbeard, his soon to be murderer, took.

Yes, Luffy could feel something like...fear. He was truly scared. What would await him there? Would he see his parents again? And Ace? Hopefully, so that at least death had a good side.

Realization struck him like a flash and he shaked his head. This couldn't be the end! He didn't want to give up, dying in such a dark, cold place, all alone!

Blackbeard took out a sharp looking knife. It was small but long enough to stab someone's heart. And Luffy was sure many many people had been stabbed by this weapon before.

He looked up from the knife to the smirking visage of the guy he hated so much. Yes, Blackbeard was looking really happy, like a child on Christmas. Was that really because he had the chance to kill again? Was he that sick? Yes, of course he was. And all the gold around them didn't make it better. Blackbeard was happy because after that, he would be the richest man alive, could buy himself everything, everyone, even humans. How disrespectful and disgusting that guy was with his attitude.

But somehow, Luffy did pity him, because he himself didn't have to kill to get money. Because he simply didn't need it. He didn't have to do what Blackbeard had done just to be rich.

Luffy smiled, courage coming back like it had never vanished before, as he thought about that. He had been rich already, much more richer than Blackbeard could ever be with his oh-so-great money and all the gold. He, Monkey D. Luffy, was very rich with all his friends who loved him the way he was. It's so simple, but for a man like Blackbeard it's the most difficult thing to comprehend. That's why Luffy pitied him.

"Monkey D. Luffy, this is your death sentence! Say goodbye to the beautiful gold, you'll never see it again because I shall end your short life now!" Blackbeard screamed like a mad man and Luffy just found it needless to answer. He narrowed his eyes, in- and exhailed one more time the cold air that had tasted so much like freedom the past days he'd been together with his friends. And then he was preparing to die, as there was no way of running away.

Blackbeard roughly grabbed the teens' throat with one hand and rammed him against the hard wall mercilessly. Luffy let out a gasp of surprise and gritted his teeth, grabbing the man's unexpected strong hand. Blackbeard however didn't seem to care about the teens struggles as he wasn't getting any air in his poor lungs. Blackbeard remained in that position for a short moment, thinking if he should suffocate or stab the teen, but decided for the second method as Luffy, not as weak as he thought, was about to free himself out of the death-grip.

So without thinking twice, Blackbeard lifted his free arm with the sharp knife in his hand, and quickly hauled it towards Luffy's heart.

The more or less helpless teen had sworn to himself not to die in here, but there was no way out of the situation. So that's why he, despite the fact that he was indeed a bit scared and digged his nails into Blackbeards arm, looked directly into Blackbeards face. Luffy managed an expression none could have made in the last second's of ones life. He looked proud and strong and suddenly so much like an adult, so warrior-like.

Blackbeard almost, almost stopped, but shut his eyes. This was the first time he'd done that while killing someone, but his arm didn't stop. The knife made contact with Luffy, digging mercilessly through the old jacket and the pullover. Suddenly, time seemed to slow down, the knife touched the aimed skin where Luffy's heart was beating under. And Luffy knew, this was the last beat it would ever made, knowing this was the end. _His _end.

And he felt a sharp pain, wanting to scream but found no strenght to do so. He could feel the warm blood running down his skin. Luffy saw black.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

"Garp-san! What should we do? We have no chance, there are too many!" one of the warriors shouted towards his chief.

"I.. We have to fight! Hold on, don't give up yet! We can win, and we'll get help soon! They'll come!" he shouted back, feeling unbelieveable exhausted and tired, like all of his men. It indeed didn't look good for them, in fact they were about to loose. But they had to go on, to fight!

The battelfield was already a scene of a big massacre, the snow around the fighting and dying men bloody.

Garp was praying and hoping that the help would come, soon otherwise they all would die here and today.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

It was already getting day again. The sun began, slowly, to raise up behind the mountains. It was still kind of dark but the shapes of trees and persons could be seen again.

"How long *pant* until we're there, *pant* Usopp?" Nami asked, worry and concern in her voice. The little group was running as fast as they could, hoping they would find the stupid cave soon.

"I *pant* don't know! But not too long *pant* !" he answered, out of his breath. They all were, but didn't want to stop. They wouldn't pause until they knew Luffy was safe, and at the moment they were far from it.

"Nami-san, don't worry! Everything's going to be alright! Do you want to hear a song? I can sing you one to calm your nervers." Brook suggested, and even if he was the oldest of the Indian's tribe, he was in a very good shape with a better condition as all of them!

"Hell NO! I don't want any of this shit right now!" she yelled back, annoyed as hell. Brook blinked, apologizing. He'd only wanted to cheer them up...

"Sorry, but I'm.. *pant*.. I don't know..." Nam drifted off, almost stumbling over a frozen stick that was hidden under the thick snow. Brook nodded in silent understanding, smiling softly at the girl.

"It's okay. I know what you make through right now. And even I have some... bad kind of feeling right now..." Brook looked concerned ahead, hoping his instinct wouldn't be right.

"Shit! Same here! Just let's hurry!" Sanji said, panting the air into his hurting lungs. He could feel it in his gut. Something was definitely wrong!

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYYXYXYXY**

The first thing he noticed was, that it was dark. Not only dark, but pitch black. Oh, so it was over after all. Blackbeard had killed him...

Then, there was a strange familiar sound made, and then an annoyed yelp followed. Blackbeard let go of the boy and Luffy could feel himself landing hard and painful. Something big and massive, probably the tall man, fell to the dirty ground, swearing and cursing loudly as he fought with... something.

Another yelp followed, but this time it wasn't made by Blackbeard. A grumbling was heard. Swearing followed by Blackbeard again.

Luffy, trying to find his way in the dark, wondered what the heck was going on. He shivered as he could feel the cold from the hard ground and inhaled deeply. Wait. He could _hear _sounds? _Feel_ the cold and could _breathe_?

He shot his eyes open, sweat was running down his pale face. Was he dead? What was going on? The biting pain from his chest, from where Blackbeard had stabbed him, returned. Luffy gasped in shock and surprise and grasped his chest, as if to make sure his heart was still beating. And in fact, it did, much to his relief. The wound wasn't deep enough, only a few centimeters more and he'd been dead..

Luffy narrowed his eyes, trying to move but found it impossible due to the pain and exhaustion. So he kept on laying on the hard and cold ground, searching in the dark cave as best as he could for his enemy who had suddenly disappeared.

Okay, so the torch Blackbeard had lightened before was out. So you couldn't see your own hand in the cave. Luffy could hear more fighting sounds, like Blackbeard missing it's victim and stabbed into the ground. But the one who fought Blackbeard was definitely though, otherwise the man would have been killed Luffy after murdering the one who attacked him.

Yes, that was what had happened. Someone had suddenly attacked the curly haired man and stopped him from murdering the teen. So.. his life had been saved! Luffy let out a happy sigh, wanting to close his eyes and just sleep, even if it meant death for him. Sleeping on a cold ground, during winter in such a cold time was fatal, and all above he was hurt. Even if he wouldn't die due to the cold, then he'd starve. So sleep wasn't good at all!

But sadly Luffy didn't find the strenght anymore to keep his screaming body from falling into a never ending sleep. So his eyes fell shut, the darkness came and took Luffy into it's tight embrace...

But then, something stopped him. Something strange, but familiar! What...!

"Eh! Bleh! Ah ah! Stop i-it!" Luffy shouted, opening his eyes at once but was met with nothing but darkness. And.. a tongue? Yeah, something was licking his face! An anim-

Luffy's eyes widened in realization, he gasped and grabbed the fluffy thing that kept on licking his face. "CHOPPER!"

The little dog barked happily and was glad he could help his best friend so much. And, of course, that Luffy was still alive! The little dog wagged it's tail as Luffy began laughing in happiness and hugged him tightly.

"Chopper! You're okay, thank god!" Luffy cried, burying his face into Chopper's soft fur. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you thank you! You saved my butt!" He said, laughing as the cute dog licked him again.

"So you attacked Blackbeard from behind, didn't you? You're amazing, Chopper, do you know that? You're really amazing! Where have you been? Are you hurt?" He began talking to him, happiness and great relief overfloating him.

An annoyed grumble let Luffy stop aprubtly and he looked into the direction where it had come from. Blackbeard! Shit! So that ass was still alive!

Luffy bit his lip, knowing the man, even if he couldn't see him, was recovering from his fight with the dog. Chopper could be really strong if he only wanted to, and he was clever and knew where to bite to hurt a human.

Blackbeard spit out blood, rubbing his hurting neck. Damn! The little pest had really a strong bite! He had thought his neck would brake every moment! What a monster!

And where was that stupid brat? He should have been long dead!

Luffy, biting his lip to stop himself from making any sound, began crawling towards the exit, Chopper always besides him. It wasn't so easy as he just wanted to sleep finally, and recover from all the stress and pain, but it was no good. He had to flee, otherwise he wouldn't get the chance to recover! So he kept his eyes towards ahead where the freedom was waiting for him. The exit lightened a bit, so Luffy could make out the big black shadow behind him beginning to move. Just a few more meters...!

But... what should he do after he was outside? Blackbeard easily could come and get him again! Luffy quickly got rid of his thoughts as he eventually reached the exit! He smiled proud of himself that he'd made it so far, and looked down to the snow. It was beautiful outside, the moment he stuck his head out, the sun greeted him with it's warm light. So beautiful.

The teen was so glad to be alive. It wasn't that bad after all. He silently smiled to himself, watching the great view of a wonderful nature around him. The tugging on his sleeve woke him from his daydreaming and he looked to see why Chopper was everything but calm. Behind them, Blackbeard was coming nearer!

"Bloody hell!" slipped accidentally out of Luffy's mouth as he saw that. He and Chopper had to get out of here NOW! He gasped and turned his head away from the pissed off man. Luckily Blackbeard was so fat, ehm _tall_, so that he had problems in the more tighting cave.

It where a few meters towards the ground. Only a few more meters...!

"Chopper! Jump!" He yelled at his dog who did what he was told, landing gracefully in the white snow. The dog looked back up to his friend and barked to encourage him. Luffy, beginning to hear the hitched breathe of the man behind him, didn't hesitate any longer and before Blackbeard could grab Luffy's foot, the teen jumped down.

He was met with the cold, half-frozen snow below. It was even more cold outside, as the wind blew stronger. As Luffy's face digged into the white snow, his skin felt like thousands of nails were stuck into it. But there was definitely no time for morning about pain or the coldness. Blackbeard had somehow managed to reach the small exit and cursed loudly.

Chopper barked madly at the swearing man, trying to scare him away, which didn't really work. The curly-haired man, pissed off to no end and blood dripping down towards the white snow below, was about to jump out and land on Luffy. Seeing that, the brave little dog bit into Luffy's sleeve and tried to pull him away with all of his might. Luffy however got the hint, he didn't even need to turn around and see Blackbeard to know what would happen if he didn't move now. So the teen bit into his tongue and, just as Blackbeard was in mid-air above him, he rolled to the left, leaving Blackbeard falling into the snow.

Chopper let out a small but happy bark to encourage Luffy who smiled at his cute dog. On shaky legs, unsure where to run, the teen began to move towards the near forest in order to hide away. The sun wasn't very high, so the chance of being unseen in the dark forest was good for Luffy and his dog.

Unfortunately, the teen hadn't had the chance to hide as Blackbeard, who had quickly recovered from that little jump, was already behind him. Luffy wasn't so fast, trying to run but failed as his legs gave away and he fell with a quiet yelp. His body was screaming in pain, it felt like the blood was beginning to freeze from the unbearable coldness and his muscles ached mercilessly. This was the signal that there was nothing to do anymore, no move would be possible for Luffy's exhausted body.

"Ack!" Luffy yelped, landing face first into the snow. His face began to hurt again from the fall into the snow, but if that had been the only thing that hurt, then there wouldn't have been a problem. Chopper stopped and ran back to his friend, barking at him to stand back up and run away with him, but unfortunately it was no use. Blood dripped out of the teen's mouth and he coughed.

"Hah! Fate is on my side!" Blackbeard laughed loudly and dirty, nearing slowly and dangerously from behind. With every step Blackbeard made towards the boy in the snow, the more Chopper felt like putting his tail between his legs and run away. But his friend was in danger, so the dog, being still hurt from when he got hit by these guys the night before, stood before Luffy, protecting him.

"Chopper! Run away! It's no use!" the seventeen-year-old screamed with wide eyes. Blackbeard would just stab his little dog to death! But then, it was much worse than that, because the ugly man, now right in front of Chopper, pulled out a gun.

Luffy, ignoring his body's protests, slowly and shakily sat back up, facing his enemy. "No way... he has a gun?" He asked more himself than Blackbeard who continued smirking.

"Sure I have. And if I can't stab you to death, then I'll just shoot. It's much more easier, by the way." the man answered, happy for himself as the situation turned better for him now. He lifted his arm, pointing directly at the brave dog who grumbled dangerously.

"Chopper! Crap, run away!" Luffy sceamed, but his fluffy dog wouldn't move. "Damn it all! MOVE, you stupid dog!" he yelled again, out of breath, arms shaking. Then he crawled forwards, grabbing the surprised Chopper and wanted to toss him away. Unfortunately his arms gave out and he couldn't manage to do so. That's why, as the cruel tall man before them, pulled the trigger, he just hugged him tightly and protective to his chest.

Chopper didn't have time to complain and yelped slightly as he was being hugged. He looked up to his friend and saw Luffy's eyes were tightly shut, rest of the young face buried in the soft fur. If that is possible for a dog, Chopper smiled. He loved Luffy so much.

It all had happened so fast. The bang was extremely loud and scared a few reindeer away.

Exactly this moment, Luffy's friends appeared near the forest, about fifteen meters away from Blackbeard and Luffy. They had seen Luffy and Chopper being hold at gunpoint, but were too far away to stop the old guy from shooting. So they had ran even faster, wanting to reach their friend and the dog so badly in time, but it was no use, the bang was heard and everything went deadly silent.

The nakama were all too shocked to say or do anything and just stood there, eyes wide, gasping at the scene before them. Blackbeard's gun smoked and the man seemed to just stare at the ground before him. But his expression was not happy, it was more that of a furious one. And that was when Sanji, Nami, Franky, Robin, Zoro, Brook and Usopp let out a reliefed sigh, a few of them wiping tears of happiness away as they realized Luffy and Chopper had moved out of the way just in time to dodge the bullet.

Luffy opened his eyes, checking if his little dog in his arms was okay. Seeing Chopper was, he smiled and then realized the seven persons standing not too far away from him and Blackbeard!

"G-Guys? You.. Are you okay?" He shouted towards them, smiling and laughing, so glad to see them alive and healthy. They smiled back, at least as happy as Luffy to see him okay, more or less at least. They, one more time, sighed in relief and began running towards his missing friend.

"So.. Chopper's okay, too! Th-thank god..!" Brook and Franky sobbed in happiness. It, however, didn't last long as something was happening.

Blackbeard seemed to have realized, too. He looked really shocked and he let his arm sink, turning around. The whole ground was shaking!

"It... was too loud.. !" Robin whispered, watching the mountains around them. "It was too loud! Attention, there's an avalanche coming!" she said louder, turning to her friends.

"Fuck! We have to get out of here, now!" Zoro yelled, not wanting to get under that snow. The young man looked at his younger brother and then back to Luffy with concerning, more panicking eyes.

"Holy shit!" Sanji sweared, looking at the avalanche coming down from the mountain. The warmth of the sunrise had melted a bit of the snow, and the loud bang from Blackbeard's shot had triggered a huge and really dangerous avalanche.

"AAAAAAAAAAHH!" Usopp panicked, falling back onto his butt into the snow. There wasn't much time, the avalanche was extremely fast and before anyone could move a single inch, the huge amount of snow buried the nakama, Luffy, Chopper inclusive Blackbeard in no time, making the whole ground shake roughly.

It was really loud, snow covering everything mercilessly under it's cold death grip. Minutes passed, the noise and the movement of the snow stopped slowly, releaving a peaceful silence. But peaceful didn't fit in here, more a deadly silence as no move was made. Every life in that valley seemed gone.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

**Wow, what a mean cliffhanger! Sorry for that *bows*! But I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)**

**Please don't forget to review! Pretty please :DD!**


	27. Song of life

**So wow, a fast update! =0 (I hope lol^^) Really, I did my best to finish this as soon as possible because, well, the updates before had taken me soooo long! So that's why I thought you should get a quicker update this time ^_^ and because the cliffhanger was mean indeed ;)**

**mugiwara-cristal: Oh thanks ^_^ You always seem to know how to make me blush lol x) Aw, thank you! :D**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Lol too late sadly, but I guess it won't stop here, would be a pretty stupid ending, ne?^^**

**secrethearts: Thanks! Aye, aye! Here you go ;)! Thank you again! :D**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Aw, don't worry ;D I'm not that cruel to kill them all... am I ? *muhahahaha* No, I am not :)**

**Thank you all! :]**

**Enjoy pls! :3**

**Disclaimer: One Piece does NOT belong to me! **

**YXYXYXYXYXY**

**Chapter 27 - Song of life**

The warm sun was rising every second, melting a bit of the ice that had been built up the past minutes at the surface of the snow. It looked really beautiful and now it began glistening in the bright light. The little valley was covered in new half-frozen snow, thanks to the not too long ago settled avalanche.

If there was a foreigner coming to it, he wouldn't notice something so dramatically just had taken part, only a few minutes ago. But truth be told, you really couldn't see anything there. No footprints, no sign of life, no sound was made.

But if he just payed a bit more attenton, if he just looked a bit closer, then maybe he would notice that it wasn't just quiet, it was deadly silent. And that was what gave the valley and the whole situation a creepy touch - this uncomfortable silence.

Everything was deadly silent, not even a single animal was to be seen.

Suddenly, a few silhouettes jumped out of the forest.

"Oh shit! We're too damn late!" one of them shouted, slightly panicing.

"Don't worry, we'll save them" another tried to calm him, but it was no use.

"Don't just stand around talking nonsense, we have to do SOMETHING!" he yelled back. "You better hold on, guys!" he said more to himself than the victims under the cold snow. Although it was really cold, you could see tiny sweat rolling down the man's face.

Then, they began like remot-controlled robots to dash towards the area where Luffy and his nakama had been seen last. Obviously, these people were Indians, hair pitch black, not wearing the usual clothes a gold digger would wear.

The six people began searching for the little group who may die any moment - if they weren't dead already, but they tried to think positive.

"Hurry up, every second counts!" One of them, the sweating one, shouted in a special Indian language, and the other five nodded, digging around in the snow, desperately searching for the few young people.

"We have to find them! We HAVE to! C'mon, where are ya? Damn! This shitty bastard!" the sweating one stuttered again, talking to himself in his panic again.

The other Indians sighed, showing sympathie for the man. After all, he had every right to worry...

"Hey! I have one of them! Come over here, there are more!" a man about thirty said finally, after what had seemed long, too long.

"Gui-k'ate (1) has found one! Let's help!" another of them said, pointing at the Indian who happened to find one of Luffy's nakama.

Abruptly, the three other men stopped digging and ran to the oldest of them who was about to pull a person out of the snow.

"Hey, you with me?" Gui-k'ate said to the woman with the orange hair as she shivered, eyes closed. First he didn't get a response, so he slightly slapped the young woman's cold cheeks. Finally she did open her hazel-brown eyes, looking into dark-brown eyes of the Indian. Nami didn't move, looking more death than alive with her pale face and blue lips.

"Are you okay?" the Indian with the long black hair asked in a good English, hoping silently that the foreign woman would understand him.

Nami blinked, trying to get awake and before she answered, she slowly began to recall what had happened to them and gasped. "What... where are the others? Are they okay?" she asked, trying to stand up and help the other men to dig out her friends. Unfortunately, her shaky legs gave away without her doing a single step. Nami collapsed, but was caught by Gui-k'ate in mid-air.

"Hey hey there, easy! You just got overrolled by that avalanche." he spoke softly. Nami struggled and the Indian could feel the girl shivering in the coldness.

"I have to help! My cousins and friends are under there, I can't just sit around worrying about myself! Let go!" she shrieked, her cold hands hitting the man's chest over and over again in hope he would let her go. But it was no use, Gui-k'ate only tightened the grip around her and took her into a tight embrance. Nami's eyes widened and her struggles stopped.

"Calm down, will ya? Take a good look over there, my friends are busy with saving your family's lives, so please don't interrupt. If you try to help them now in your current state, then you will collapse again eventually, and then they first have to deal with you. So just warm yourself up and wait. Leave the rest to us, you hear me?" He spoke calmly but in a tone that clearly told Nami not to protest. She managed a slight nod.

"Good. And you can help by litting a fire for you and your friends, 'kay?" Gui-k'ate said as he smiled at a pale Nami. "You look like you could need a bit warmth right now."

Nami bit her lip and nodded another time. She certainly didn't fail to notice that the strange man before her talked as if she was a little kid. But truth be told, at the moment that was exactly what she needed so Nami didn't mind. The eighteen-years-old turned her head slightly to look at the other strange men who where about to pull another unconscious person out. She saw how the person's hand shaked, and immediately saw it was Franky's.

"S-sorry." she muttered and turned away, sitting down in the snow. The Indian smiled one more time, before he went back to his friends to help them. There spoke to them in a language Nami didn't understand, and soon a younger man was coming to her.

"Hello. I'm Muscowe (2)." He said in English and Nami just stared at Franky's moveless body, ignoring the young man besides her. Said man didn't bother with that as he knew how she must feel, and disappeared into the woods. Minutes after that, he came back with a lot of wood for a fire and began to lit it. It took him a bit, no wonder if it's so cold, but the Indian was skillful and soon a small but warm fire was burning near Nami.

"Here. I've got wood so that it won't go out. Go nearer and warm yourself up." He said, pointing at a few small blankets made of animal skin and hurried back to the other Indians. Nami nodded slowly, only staring at the little group who was partly trying to get Franky back to consciousness, and the other two were busy digging around and searching.

Nami then noticed how cold it was. How cold she was. Her whole body just wouldn't stop shaking and her toes and fingers were hurting a lot. The biting cold was creeping up and down her spine, making her shiver. Her teeth were klapping against each other. The eighteen-years-old crawled to the small fire and threw another piece of wood into it, taking a warm and fluffy blanket and threw it around her thin shoulders, hands holding towards the fire.

'How could this all happen? Why didn't we run away? Why didn't _they _run away?' Nami thought, staring into the fire that became bigger and stronger. She could feel getting herself better a bit, the warmth giving her new strenght. Her whole body hurt a lot, especially her head, but she didn't care. Suddenly, she gaped, eyes wide as her left hand slowly and softly touched her cheeks.

They were wet. And another hot tear was rolling down her cheek. How long had she been crying? She didn't know and at the moment she didn't even care. The tears kept on falling. Her friends just had to be okay. She couldn't stand it if anyone of them would die. Not again. It had been enough that her mother, Bellemere, had died. Back then, she'd almost given up, not recovered from that traumatic situation for a long time.

If something terrible like that would happen again, if she would lose another precious person she hold so dear again, then... then she wouldn't know how to go on. Or if she had the strenght to go on.

"Hey, here is one of your friends. Don't worry, he's okay, just a bit cold. Just try to keep him warm and he'll be as good as new." Suddenly a voice besides her spoke and woke her from her depressing thoughts. The Indian smiled softly, seeing Nami's been crying, and ruffled her head gently. Then he pointed at Franky, who was shivering like hell, but standing behind him.

Immediately, the sadness vanished out of Nami's face and she jumped up, throwing her arms around the blue-haired man's neck. "Damn it Franky, don't scare me like that again!" Nami sobbed, not caring that Franky was making a dumbstruck and surprised face at the moment. True, they hadn't known this guy for long, but in that short amount of time she'd really began to like him - crazy or not.

She let go of him and signaled him to sit to the fire which he did. "What the heck happened?" Franky wondered aloud, carefully moving his hurting fingers, still a bit confused. Nami sighed and the Indian turned away, back to his companios to search for others.

"Just take a blanket and warm yourself up, you'll remember sooner or later.." Nami mumbled, nagging on her nails. Her glance then wandered back to the little group of Indians. Who where they, by the way? They were definitely not from Usopp's, Brook's and Robin's tribe, that was for sure. But where did they come from? And.. did they watch what was happening? Too many unanswered questions were floating through her confused and tired mind.

"Where are the others...?" Franky asked, but immediately shut up as he realized it had been a damn stupid question to ask. "Sorry" he mumbled an apology, looking back into the fire. Damn, this was good.. he felt his hands getting warm again.

Nami however sighed again, biting into her tongue to keep herself from crying. To say that she was overstrained and about to mentally collapse was an understatement. This was taking too damn long! Didn't they say that if a human's brain's administration of oxygen would be stopped for about 4 minutes, then there would irreparably damages occur, or even worse.. ? Nami let out a small shriek, burying her head into her knees, sobbing softly. She was driving herself even more crazy!

"Err.. Nami sis?..." Franky said carefully, but the same moment he slowly began remembering what had happened. He gulped slightly, now this all was making sense! Now he could understand, and he himself felt like crying. But he had to be strong. For Nami.

But sadly he found himself at a loss of words. He really wanted to say something to reassure or calm the girl, like bad weeds grow tall or some other stupid thing. His lips didn't move and so he let her cry, he himself just staring into nothing. So they both continued warming themselves up, everyone crying, worrying, praying in silence.

"Here's another one! No, three!" was to be heard in English, and Nami and Franky looked over to the Indians who pulled a coughing Usopp, an unconscious Brook and an unmoving Robin out. They were quickly brought over to the two waiting friends who covered them in blankets.

"Oh gosh..." Nami mumbled as she looked at her dear friends. They looked pretty damn exhausted. Franky inwardly cried, seeing how pale his companios were. From then on, no words were spoken, no glances exchanged between the blue-haired man and the young woman. Both of them just focused on their nakama, every second counted.

The two worked very hard and somehow managed, much to their reliefs, to bring them all back to life.

"Guys! Are you okay? I'm so glad!" Nami sobbed, this time she cried tears of joy. This was great! She hugged each of the shivering victims, overjoyed. Franky, too, found himself crying, even if he denied it as best as he could.

Soon, the five freezing but alive nakama were sitting around the fire, now wondering and concerned if Sanji, Zoro, Luffy and Chopper would be okay. They didn't really talk, just sit there, everyone in their own thoughts like Nami and Franky before.

"Who are these guys?" Usopp finally broke the uncomfortable silence. He knew none of them did care about these Indians at the moment, all that counted was that they helped them - but the Indian with the long nose was curious, and wanted to change the subject.

"Dunno." Franky just commented.

"They are from another tribe, living not too far away from here." Brook, the tribe's oldest, told them. Robin nodded, lifting her cold hands up to the fire.

"That is right. Our tribes have been enemies for a long time, practically since they exist as two different tribes, but why exactly they fight is unknown. It is said that the two tribes argument has begun hundreds of years before, just because the chief's didn't like each other. Who knows." the Indian beauty said mid-absently, and Usopp noticed none cared, even he himself didn't, so that's why he shut up again, sighing deeply. How long had it been since the avalanche?

Brook's gaze wandered around and he saw that there was Sanji being pulled out from under the snow! They all cheered, happy the cook was alive and even conscious, more or less. He was brought to the others as fast as possible.

"Sanji! You okay?" Usopp almost shouted, grinning happily at the young man. Said man was confused and a bit frozen and blinked a couple of times to get his vision clear.

"Eh..? Where are Zoro and Luffy...?" Sanji mumbled tiredly and the other friends just managed to catch him before hitting the cold floor.

"Woah there, bro! Easy! Just sit down close to the heat, will ya?" Franky sat, placing the shaking cook to the ground with two blankets around his shoulders. The situation was quickly explained and Sanji's face went darker again. He certainly didn't like this, not at all. Like the others, he didn't really wonder about who the other persons where who rescued him and his nakama, but more about his stupid brother and Luffy.

"Fuck" Sanji only commented, wishing he had a cigarette now. A tensed silence was laying itself down onto the nakama's heads. What could they do? The waiting was killing them slowly.

"Atchoo!" Sanji sneezed loudly.

"Bless you." Brook said politely, and Sanji just bit his lip in time to stop himself from saying 'screw you' back to poor Brook. He was just pissed and worried as hell, but tried to not show it. But he was also a bit pissed that they all just sat there, seeming as if there was nothing to worry about.

He looked over to the still digging Indians who talked to each other in a language the young cook could not understand. Then he noticed something else. Or better someone else. There was another Indian, a young man, digging a bit away from the others, at the area where they had seen Luffy last. Why did no one help him?

A sudden shout brought him back to reality. His nakama around the fire, slowly but surely moveable again due to the warm fire and blankets, snapped out of their thoughts, too.

"What..." Nami started but soon closed her mouth again as she saw that the Indians had found a hand of someone, which stuck out of the snow. The nakama's eyes widened and they all knew who it was: Zoro! But the man's hand didn't move, not at all. Immediately, Sanji jumped up, blanket falling to the ground.

"Sanji wait, you shouldn't walk around after that..!" Usopp tried, but Sanji didn't bother to stop and just dashed towards his brother. He had already lost his little sister and even if it sometimes seemed that he didn't like Zoro, this was not true. Zoro bothered the hell out of him ,yes, but it was his brother and he didn't want to lose another sister/brother. One was enough, definitely.

"Is.. he.." he started, panting hard as he reached the small group of Indians. He was still standing on shaky legs, but ignored this fact successfully. He stopped as he looked around. The snow was partly red! But it wasn't because one of his friends or Zoro were bleeding, it was because the Indian's hands were badly hurt from the long digging through the cold and half-frozen snow! At once, Sanji felt ashamed. Ashamed that he was sitting there lazily, warming his ass, while there were foreign people he had never seen before working so hard to save their and his brother's lifes.

The cook didn't think long, he just stepped forwards, pushing the Indians aside and began digging with bare hands, trying to get his only brother back to the surface. Not to soon after that, Nami, Brook, Usopp, Franky and even Robin came and helped the same way. They had watched the blonde running towards his brother and followed, concerned about the cook's and Zoro's health. But from then on, the same thought struck their minds and they too, felt horrible. Not only that they were half-frozen, but more the fact that they really hadn't done anything to help their buried nakama! In a situation like that, every person was being needed.

The Indians smiled softly, beginning to dig after Zoro together with the bunch of foreign people again.

It didn't take them too long, and soon Zoro was free. Unfortunately, the young man didn't look too good, pale face, lips dark blue. The chest wasn't moving.

"Damn..!" Usopp mumbled, tears began to form in his eyes. Everyone was gathered around the green haired man, trying as best as they could to wake him up. Franky just gaped at the unconsciousness man who laid in front of them in the snow, looking so lifeless. Was this strong, young man really...? Could Zoro really be killed so easily..?

"Open your eyes, you damn idiot!" Sanji yelled madly at his brother. Robin and the others eyed the blond man with sympathy, but soon their glances went back to Zoro. There must be something they could do! Anything!

Even the Indians seemed helpless and unsure what to do. Obviosly, they discussed something in their language, gesturing wildly with hands and fingers, every now and then pointing at the out cold Zoro or his nakama.

Usopp bent down and began to shake Zoro's shoulders in a rough way, telling him to wake up finally. "Zoro, you...! Always acting so though, but now you just let yourself down by a little avalanche? That's not you, so say something! Quit joking, it's not funny, damn!" The long-nosed teen pleaded, lip trembling.

Sanji also knelt down besides his unmoving brother, gulping slightly as if fighting with the tears. "Stupid Marimo, you always used to worry about me and Kuina a lot you know, always keeping an eye at us. Too overprotective. But can't you just protect _yourself _for once? Can't you just worry about yourself?" Sanji mumbled, angry and sad mixing up inside of him, not caring that his nakama were present at the moment to witness. By the looks of it, none of them thought it was stupid or uncool, they eyed him in pity and their own sadness.

"We.. press down on his chest! Try something! Don't just act as if it was too late!" Nami shrieked, slightly panicing. The tears in her eyes glistened in the warm sunlight and if it wasn't such a deadly serious situation at the moment, then Sanji would have jumped up, overjoyed, and sang a classic song just for his beautiful Nami-chan.

"Yohohoho~! My my, you young teens sure are such stress-causers!" A voice beamed, sounding slightly amusing despite the fact there was someone in life danger. Robin's face brightened up a little as she saw the old man beside her, smiling.

Sanji, Usopp, Franky and Nami were about to shout at him for his disrespectful actions, but Robin quickly signaled them to stay quiet. The Indian woman with the long black hair knew Brook very well. She also knew that this man was full of surprises, after all he was really clever and had an advanced knowledge in medicine. This man had managed things others would have said to be impossible, and if you looked at him you noticed Brook was an old man. But he could move like a twenty-years-old, which surprised even Garp.

That was when the sad and angry nakama realized these things, too. In fact, this old man had given Luffy another life, so it had seemed, as he healed him from pneumonia from what he was thought to have died.

"Maybe I could help here..." Brook said, smiling knowingly, the nakama stepping back to give the old Indian space.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

Meanwhile, not too far away from them, was a troubled looking guy desperately searching for the teen and his dog. Well, the Indian hadn't failed to notice there had been a certain ugly man near the boy, but he and his tribe knew Blackbeard. He wouldn't save him. Blackbeard had more than just a few times attacked their tribe, trying to kidnap a few women to do things to him the Indian would never forgive. But that was just one example of many. The strange and by everyone hated man with the curly hair had caused much more trouble.

Speaking of which, just the same moment he could feel a hand touching his. So there he was! Was it the boy...? The Indian with the black hair widened his eyes, silently praying it would be the boy and NOT Blackbeard, and as he uncovered the person, he saw it was indeed Blackbeard.

The Indian grumbled furiously, this man was wasting his precious time! At the moment he looked so peaceful, eyes closed as well as the mouth, missing teeth hiding uninventionally. The face was palce, way too pale, and the man didn't make a move, so no wonder the Indian expected Blackbeard to be dead.

The young man frowned one more time deeply at him, before he went back to searching through the frozen snow. The teen MUST be somewhere here! The Indian's hands hurt like hell, but at the moment he ingored it, just focusing on finding the teen. How much time had passed since he and his companios had witnessed the dramatic scene before?

Their tribe had met up with Garp and his men, supporting them in their fight against Blackbeard's men. Garp had sent someone of his tribe and asked them for help against Crocodile and his partner, but the chief and grandpa of Luffy hadn't gotten an answer, so hope had been the only thing remaining. And the moment Garp and the rest of the tribe was about to lose, about to give up seeing it was no use, the other Indian tribe appeared and could help them.

Garp had quickly told them about their current situation as well where Blackbeard may was. Garp had no idea, but he had known in which direction his grandson's nakama had gone. The former enemy tribe's chief had ordered seven of his men to follow them, and the little group had just arrived in time to see Blackbeard shooting and triggering a whole avalanche.

There had been nothing they could have done besides watching in shock, and as finally the snow had settled, they had been able to show up and search for the buried young people.

Not much time had passed since then. It may seemed so long, but in reality only ten minutes had passed and the clock of life was still ticking mercilessly. The Indian, digging all on his own, he hadn't wanted company in his panic, bit deeply into his lower lip. Now not only his hands but also the blood dripping from his hurting lip were colouring the usual white snow. It was damn cold, and due to the fact that it was still winter and the air was cold, not even the slightly warm sunshine could help shooing the coolness away.

All of sudden, the young Indian gasped well audioably. What was that? He looked down, seeing the shapes of a body under the snow. There he was! Only a few centimeters of snow were between him and the boy!

Hope glimmed again inside the desperate Indian like a fire that was lit by gas. He quickly threw away the snow that was in the way, before he finally, after searching and digging around like a burning chicken searching for any water to put out the fire, reached the half-frozen teen. And luckily, the little dog with the soft fur was right beside him!

"Yes! Finally! Now be alive, and everything's fine again!" he babbled in English, slapping the teen's cheeks. He looked as if he was sleeping, the dog too. But the Indian knew very well that this kind of sleep was everything but healthy for the teen and the dog, it was easily possible these two were gone already...

"Wakeupwakeupwakeup!" he muttered desperately, before he turned around to yell for help at his Indian friends. He wasn't able to save the teen alone, he just had no idea what to do! And he seemed dead already, so...he needed help! Unfortunately and much to the Indian's shock, his plea wasn't heard and the Indian friends of him just stared at a strange old man who was busy with helping an other guy, probably a friend of the teen in his hands. Mentioned guy didn't look too good either...

Said friends were about to assistant Brook who was murmuring something towards the pale and unconscious Zoro. Everyone else was surrounding the green haired one, praying Brook would help Zoro. Robin smiled slightly, but in the inside she was really tensed and wished Brook was knowing what he was doing, not knowing exactly what the man was doing actually.

Nami just had her eyes closed, sobbing silently into her right hand, with the left she was holding Zoro's cold hand. 'Hurry Brook, whatever you are doing, do it quicker!' she thought.

Usopp had his mouth half opened, staring full of tension at Zoro. 'Was he...? Nonono! But he looks..so dead...' was flashing through his mind as he just hoped his depressing thoughts weren't true and Zoro soon would wake up.

Franky's eyes were wet but the man made no sound as he bit his lip. The man was watching Brook's actions closely and didn't really understand what the Indian was doing, but all he knew was that he had no idea of medicine and the old guy would know what to do. But he really hoped it would wake Zoro-bro at once! He couldn't take it anymore!

Sanji was narrowing his eyes at his brother, biting down onto his lip with all of his might as if it would help him to put away the terrible pressure from his shoulders. The cook really concentrated at Zoro, looking if there was any movement to be seen from Zoro, even if it was just a few ich. There had to be, who could he tease if Zoro was dead? With whom could he argue and fight? Zoro just seemed to be the perfect opponent! 'So don't you dare die, baka!' he thought, teeth clenching.

Gui-k'ate, Muscowe and other Indians were sitting near them, watching and listening quietly in awe. The old man was pretty skilled! They didn't know they were at first the only ones who noticed Brook was actually singing a song, a real beautiful one. But soon, the old Indian began to sing louder and with more feelings and emotions put into the song. He could sing very good and Franky began to cry. The other nakama's terrible thoughts all vanished at once, nice and warm memories replacing them.

It was amazing to listen to, and the friends' glances soon all rested on the singing indian who was sitting besides Zoro who showed no reaction. The voice echoed through the whole valley, making it even more peaceful and everything just and amazingly seemed so... beautiful. As if there was nothing bad in the world. Almost as if it was only them, the sun, the peaceful untouched nature and this song existing. An incredibly comfortable warmth formed in everyone's body which soon grew. The nakama were truly surprised but couldn't manage to say anything in their silent awe.

None of them had heard anything like that before in their lifes. Not even the Indians knew what was going on.

They felt new energy floating through their body, making the coldness, the pain and the tiredness disappear in a blink of an eye, as if there had never happened these horrible things before, as if they just awoke from an awful nightmare. The bad thoughts and feelings like the great sadness, disappointment and anger were practically sung away and were driften further and further away, and soon they were completely forgotten, the beautiful and touching song the only thing on the nakama's minds. It was incredible, suddenly the air seemed to taste better than anytime before.

Now, the amazing song had reached the other Indian with Luffy in his hands. Said Indian was deeply touched and stared with his mouth opened at the strange old singing guy. He didn't know what was going on, but at the moment it didn't matter anyways. It was such a great feeling to listen to him singing... it was drop-dread gorgeous!

"What... is that...?" The Indian wondered aloud, stunned to no end. A small shiver went down his spine, but it was a positive feeling somewhat. It was... beyond words, the Indian was sure there was no word existing which could describe what he and the others felt at the moment.

Actually, the song was not very special itself. Sure, the lyrics and the melody were great, but that alone wasn't what gave it this special touch which gave you new courage. It was the way the old Indian was singing it, the way Brook put his emotions in it. As if Brook's whole positive attitude was floating into the song, shining even brighter than the sun itself.

It was a slow song, and Brook kept on singing it over and over again, obviously enjoying it with every breath he took. Always beginning with the slow 'Yohohoho, yohohoho, yohohoho, yohohoho'.

Still, the nakama and the Indians listened to it, never getting tired of the song and Brook. That's why none of them, neither the nakama around Zoro, nor the small group of Indians, nor the Indian with Luffy and the unconscious dog noticed something even more great was going on. A small twitch here, a small twitch there.

They finally noticed, as Usopp eventually gasped loudly and interrupted Brook's song. Everyone gaped as the Indian stopped, and soon realized why he did so.

"Man, you guys are really noisy... damn, I was having a great dream just now." an all to familiar grumble came and became the center of attention.

"ZORO!" Usopp cried out in joy and he and Nami hugged each other in happiness. Robin smiled even more than normally, almost not wanting to believe what just happened. Franky, of course, murmured 'Brook's such a super guy...' and cried like a baby. Everyone was completely reliefed, although they didn't quite understand how something like this was possible. But Zoro was alive, that's everything which counted.

Said center of attention yawned tiredly before he sat up and strechted his arms. "Huh? Did I miss something?" He asked intelligently, not liking it if everyone was focused on himself. It was like he just woke up from a simple dream and everyone was acting so strange.. even Sanji was... _smiling _at him! Ugh! Did his idiotic brother paint a smiley onto his face while he was alseep or something...?

"Tch, baka Marimo." was the only thing Sanji said to him before just sighing and turning away. Okay, now that was creepy... what the heck happened?

"That was... amazing" one of the Indians said to Brook and everyone agreed. Said old Indian just grinned, happy to could be able to help a bit.

"Eh? Where's Luffy, by the way?" Zoro asked, wondering why his limbs were feeling so cold... then he turned around and soon spotted him in the arms of another foreign Indian he didn't know. His friends followed his glance.

"Shit, Luffy! I totally forgot! Let's search for him as fast as possibl-" Franky began, only to be cut off by Robin who gently put her hand over the others mouth.

"Look, a friend of them found him and Chopper already" she said and smiled.

"You...are you..alright?" the Indian asked, blinking in surprise as the teen in his arms blinket at him in confusing. He looked tired and a bit pale, but not as dead as before which brought a reliefed sigh out of the Indian. Luffy only seemed to not understand anything that was going on and kept on blinking irritated.

The Indian smiled, so the boy was alright more or less. Suddenly, he widened his eyes as something besides him began to move...

A loud and healthy-sounding bark echoed through the valley. Chopper, looking quite happy and alive, was wagging his tail in happiness.

"Luffy...is okay..!" Nami sighed, a big smile on her mouth, hand over her heart. "Thank God youre all okay..."

"And Chopper, too! Man , this is so great!" Usopp said, grinning as tears of happiness were to be seen in his eyes. Robin smiled reliefed.

"But how..? How is this possible...?" Sanji murmured more to himself, but the others caught it. So he turned to face Brook. "I mean, it was just... a song, right?"

Brook chuckled slightly. "Not only a song... it was the song of life."

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**I've searched a bit in the internet, and ta-daaa I found some original Indian names ;) Here are the meanings:**

**(1) Gui-k'ate = Sleeping Wolf**

**(2) Muscowe = Hard Quill**

**Wow, I was rather creative today lol^^ Hope you enjoyed it! And yep, I used Bink's no sake here. I like the song and thought Brook singing it would be a little surprise^^ Maybe it was a bit overdone at the end, but well, today I was rather creative x) Liked the end? Didn't like it? Tell me :)**

**~~Review please! :D~~**

**Until next time, bye =D**


	28. Fight me!

**Hey there everyone :D**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Aw, that's very sweet of you :3 thanks! Yeah, and I love the yohoho part x)**

**mugiwara-cristal: I'm so glad you think so :) It makes me really happy ;3 Merci! :D**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Yeah, it's a great song :) Hmmm.. maybe? I won't tell anything *hands clasp over mouth* **

**secrethearts: Thanks! No need for apologizing ;D That's good to hear :) Yep, sure! Lol, Neko11 says hi back! Great that you have your own acc now! =)**

**Thank you guys *bows* I really love your reviews a lot! Now your soon-to-be-birthday-child Neko11 wishes you much fun while reading ;3**

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece, it belongs to Oda-sensei! Just the plot :)**

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

**Chapter 28 - Fight me!**

"You guys nearly gave me a heart attack there! You owe me at least-" Nami began with a pissed off expression, but everyone could see the reliefed face behind it.

Franky shaked his head with a small smile.

"Calm down, Nami-sis. All that counts is that everyone's okay, right?" he said to Nami who just 'hmphed', nose sticking into the air. To be honest, they all were still kinda shocked about the situation before, it all had happened so fast. But Frank was right, so they tried not to think too close about what had occured not too long ago.

"So... I was dead?" Zoro repeated again after Brook and Usopp had quickly explained their situation. They knew it didn't sound possible, but it was the truth.

"Yes, you kinda looked like...well, let's say you have been a goner for sure but that's all in the past now." Usopp said, avoiding the awful subject. The Indian didn't really feel like talking about that, it had really been a huge shock. And not only for him, everyone else had thought they'd lost Zoro forever.

"Enough of that now, let's go and check up on Luffy over there." Nami decided and her friends followed quickly. Even the other Indians were curious about the other boy and a bit concerned about the boy's health, even if he was in good hands. After all, one of their friends was with him, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Meanwhile, a few meters away, was Chopper still busy wagging his tail in happiness and excitement. Although he didn't quite understand what exactly had happened or how, he was just glad to see his human friend alive. And not only that. Chopper suddenly realized something and froze in surprise.

Luffy had already recognized before and was staring at the guy who was holding him protectively in his arms. Could it be possible? How? Why..? So many questions appeared at once in his mind and he couldn't help but stare quietly in shock. Luffy didn't even move from his position, he just laid numb in the Indian's arms.

"Hey..." The Indian began unsure, gulping a few times as he looked closely at the teen with the black hair.

Luffy's heart nearly stopped when he heard the other speak. This voice... so it really was... but that was impossible! No way!

Was he in heaven? Did he really die from that avalanche? What about his friends? What about Blackbeard? Was he dead, too...? Luffy somewhat felt really sad. 'Didn't I manage to survive?' But then he was so tired he felt like he could sleep for three days without waking up. Of course, it was really cold too, and his numb body just wouldn't move, so maybe he was just imagine things.

Then Luffy noticed the sun was shining and slowly turned his head around, watching how the sun was rising and felt the warmth of it touching his cold face. The sight he saw looked so beautiful, so breathtaking it was hard to describe. So this was heaven?

"Luuuuffy!"

"Hey, Luffy!"

"Lil' brooo~!"

He heard the shouts of his friends, which seemed so far away but near at the same time. Luffy felt like it was just a bad dream, maybe he was still buried under the snow?

"L-Luffy...?" he heard another voice, the one of his savior, stuttering unsurely. He turned his head back to look at that face again and his breath stopped for a moment.

Now Luffy opened his dry mouth, teeth clapping slightly at the coldness, to answer.

"Y-yes.. y-you..." he murmured with wide eyes, still dazed and numb. But it wasn't a dream, right? This..was this reality? He wasn't sure what to think and before he knew it, his friends and a group of Indians he didn't know reached him and started talking to him. The strawhat boy couldn't make out the words that were mercilessly thrown at him, just completely caught of that sight of this face over him.

The brown eyes, the black hair which was a little longer than his, the freckles... there was no mistake. And Chopper, thank god he was alright, seemed to notice who this person was actually, too. The little husky began to bark again, but not in anger but rather in happiness as he went to lick the Indian's hands, tail wagging all along. The dog had seemed just as taken aback as Luffy himself, and before the teen knew it, he was tightly hugged by the all too familiar Indian.

It was when Luffy finally began to realize: This was no dream, this wasn't heaven, nor he neither his friends were dead. This was reality, this was really happening at the moment. And he also knew the person who hugged him and gave him a warm feeling inside his heart, was just as alive as himself. Luffy felt his own hands moving and he took the Indian in an at least as tight embrance as the other did.

"Ehh..." Franky commented with a really dumb expression. He and the others hadn't expected that. What was going on?

"L-Luffy..!" the teen heard the other Indian say. Wet streams of tears streamed down his own face, snapping him out of the shock stance and brought him back to reality.

Nami and the others, staying around the two in a circle, began to understand at once. They first gaped surprised, whispering quite taken aback from that, but at the same time they felt unbelievable happy for Luffy and smiled quietly.

Yes, he was alive, and so was his brother.

"A-Ace..! ACE!" he sobbed into the other's shoulder, not knowing how this was possible but he didn't really care about 'how'. Luffy was only glad he had his brother back he'd missed so much.

Yes, he was alive indeed and so was, in fact, his brother.

The two brothers stayed like this for a while, quietly sobbing as Ace gently ran his hand over Luffy's back to comfort the other. It was amazing, just amazing, to see him again. And Luffy thought the same, too. He would never have thought Ace was still alive! It was just amazing.

Nami and the others at once began to understand and gaped, but then it vanished and was replaced by a smile.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYX**

"Garp, let's forget about the fight between our two tribes for once, we have the same enemy so we won't hesitate to fight together with you this time! I also apologize for coming so late!" The chief said to a badly wounded Garp who had kept on fighting desperately.

At the appearance of the former enemy tribe with their leader Garp's face brightened, and new hope was to be seen in his old eyes.

"Dragon! You've come after all!" the old chief said, glad they would be getting the so badly needed help after all. He had doubted Dragon and his men would even come but they actually did. And by the looks of it, they have come to fight!

Dragon only nodded, his long black hair waving in the cold wind. He had hundreds of strong looking men with him, ready to beat the enemy. Dragon, a huge tattoo covered the left side of his face, turned to his men and only nodded, the expression the one of a strong warrior upon his face. At that, his men wordlessly ran towards the enemy and began fighting against them, gracefully but strong.

Garp looked more than reliefed, bleeding heavily from his side. He and the rest of his tribe had been about to lose, not only this fight but also their all were badly wounded and looked more dead than alive, but didn't even think of giving up. Dragon had had the right timing, saving their enemy tribe's life with his support. For once, Garp was completely grateful for the others appeareance. Now they had a chance of winning again.

The proud chief with the long black hair hadn't changed his stern expression, looked one more time at Garp before he too came to fight. Garp smiled slightly, Dragon and his men were really good and skilled fighter.

Now he was sure none of his own men would life their lifes anymore and the victory for the two tribes was near.

Garp only silently wondered how Luffy and his nakama were doing, like a worried mother. But who could blame him.

**YXYXXXYXYXYXXYXY**

"H-How? I thought they'd killed you for s-sure!" Luffy sobbed, dark circles around his eyes. They were about to fall closed, but Luffy refused to fall asleep right there in his brothers arms. No wonder!

"I- man, I thought you to be dead, too! Damn, I'm so glad to see you, Lu!" Ace said, smiling with tears in his eyes. A huge wave of relief had floated over him as Luffy had opened his eyes again after looking so dead. Their medicine man was really fantastic!

"Luffy, I'm so happy for you, man!" Usopp said, watching the two brothers' reunite after so long. It was great to see Luffy like this, not only that he did survive the avalanche, but also that he was so full of happiness again.

Franky was crying like a little baby, not able to stop his tears from falling. It was so touching, he couldn't help it! "Bro, that's so gweaaaat for you!" he cried, rubbing his nose. He really hadn't thought the Indian who saved Luffy was his big brother!

"Easy there, Franky..." Zoro commented sweat-dropping. Then he watched Luffy and his brother. It really must have been a great surprise for both of them. Zoro closed his eyes, smiling. After Luffy had lost so much, beared so much upon his shoulders, something changed again in his life. But this time, it was a positive change, something Luffy'd never have expected at all, and it was great for him. As Zoro looked at the two, he couldn't help but think everything was going to be okay soon, somehow.

Nami however was fighting with the tears of happiness as well but she on the other hand had herself under better control as Franky. Only small tears were glistening in the sun. She didn't really know what to say right now, but found there were no words required at all. Luffy had his big brother back, what do you need to say more?

Robin stood there with her arms crossed over her breast. She had a more or less unreadable expression on her face like ever, but if you looked a little bit closer then you would notice the mouth was slightly pulled up and her blue eyes were shining brightly. And inside herself Robin felt more than reliefed that everything was going to be okay now, after all she still felt like this all was caused by her. But it was over now, they got Luffy back and now the teen discovered that life isn't only cruel. You just have to give it a chance.

Sanji had his hands in his pockets and just watched silently. It seemed somewhat like a miracle to him that so many great things were happening at once to them. It was like after a long and dangerous thounderstorm, the sun comes out again and fills the people's hearts with new hope. Sanji closed his eyes.

So Ace was alive after all. Maybe the best thing that could happen to Luffy now. He'd done so much for others and fought his way desperately through life. He'd learned how hard and mercilessly it could be, but now he was getting something back in return, so it seemed. Shaking his head while a smile crept on his face, the blond cook opened his eyes again. He somehow wished he had a nice cigarette now.

Brook was about to cry, too. It was hard not to! Brook hadn't known Luffy for long, but if he had learned one or two things about that teen, then that he loved his family and nakama very much. The medicine man was glad he'd been able to help Luffy and his nakama, really. A short sob escaped his throat as he thought about how the boy may had to fight in the past, how everyone of them had to fight in their life.

But if you now look at them closely, you see nothing but happiness and relief written on their faces. Usopp, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, Franky, Luffy and Ace - they all looked perfectly happy and full of will to live.

The other Indian's, Ace's nakama, looked just as glad as Luffy's. They had known Ace was searching for his brother and felt happy for their little fellow he found what he was looking for. Marco - one of the men - rose a brow, still smiling. They had helped a lot, so it seems.

He had never ever seen Ace so reliefed. Truth be told, Ace hadn't had many nice moments since he was with them and the rest of the tribe. He always seemed to have something on his mind but didn't talk so much about it. Marco and the others somehow managed to roughly find out why Ace seemed so...absent-mindly. The black-haired Indian chuckled slightly to himself, hopefully their buddy will be more opened and happy from now on. He didn't have a doubt about that.

"Ace! How..how are you alive? I.. didn't they kill you? I.." Luffy began, trembling as he kept on crying. He was still sitting onto his brother's lap and at the moment no one could move him away from there.

"Calm down.. everything's good now." Ace said as he softly ruffled his younger brother's hair. It still seemed as a dream to him that the two were together again. "I'll tell you later, okay? You and your friends should get a couple of hours sleep I think." he said as he smiled softly, his eyes only fixed onto his brother.

The younger of the two really looked like he was ready to collapse right there and his nakama didn't look too good as well. It must have been a hard night for all of them. And it's still too cold to run around like them, they must be freezing to death, especially after the avalanche.

"He's right, Luffy..let's go b- Oh my god, what about the war? I totally forgot about Garp!" Nami paniced slightly, gasping in shock. She'd completely shoved it into the back of her mind! There had been so many things occured, no wonder she hadn`t remembered about that!

"There, there, hold it. No need for panic. Our chief and the rest of our tribe are taking care of the weaklings of Blackbeard, don't worry." Marco said assuringly with a calm mine, signaling Nami to sit down.

"No! I don't wanna rest now! Not before I know what had happened to you!" Luffy said and sound like a little child that desperately wants some chocolate. But he didn't give a damn how he sounded - nor that all of his nakama had seen him cry.

Ace remined silent for a few seconds before he sighed as he looked at his little brother. "Alright then." he sighed again. " I have quite a blurry memory of it, but I can clearly remember they taking me away from you. Then they shot at me twice, directly into the stomach." Ace began to explain, not needing to say who he meant by _they_. Luffy nodded while petting his little dog. Now everyone around them was quiet, waiting patiently for Ace to continue.

"Well, after that the two just left me in the city to die I tried to get help, but none of the people passing by wanted to help me. So I went out of the city, I have no idea where exactly I planned to go back then but well. I somehow managed to reach the forest, where I finally collapsed." he finished, looking quite in thoughts. "I then have caught from one of Garp's men who was sent to us that there was Garp's grandson, who happens to be my brother." he sighed for the third time as he scratched his head. "Well, I thought that man had been mistaken or something, but I had to go and check up on it... "

"Yeah, and just let me fill in that gap you left, we found him there in the forest, bloody, badly hurt and unconscious, so we took him to our tribe and helped him. Since then he's been living with us." Muscowe added and looked at Ace. He'd always known something terrible must have happened to Ace, but something like this... he could only guess how this had even began in first place.

"Yes, which I'm really grateful for." Ace smiled, politely as ever. His Indian friends smiled back, Ace would never really change after all. Then the twenty-years-old with the freckles turned to look at his worn out little brother with concern. "And how you came to Alaska are you going to tell me after you've rested."

But he even didn't get an answer as Luffy was already half-asleep, getting a little energy back he needed so badly. Ace chuckled at that cute sight, before he turned to Luffy's nakama. "Thanks a lot for taking care of him." he said with a true smile on his lips.

Nami blushed slightly, Ace looked really good after all, and smiled back. "No need for thanking us, really." she said with a wink. "He helped us a lot, too you know..." she trailed off, knowing too well how he and the others beat Arlong just for her.

"Yes, I know. And he helped me a lot, too. But now's the time I don't need him or you anymore." a voice beamed suddenly, sending shivers down Ace's spine. Zoro and Sanji immediately were alarmed and got into fighting mode. Nami and Usopp shrieked in unison and hid behind Robin. Said Indian beauty glared at the curly haired man who had appeared before them and broke the peaceful atmosphere mercilessly.

Franky instantly gasped and went protectively in front of the two girls as Brook had the look of a silent scream on his old face. So he'd used his special song too carelessly after all! Blackbeard shouldn't have heard it... but now it was too late.

"NO WAY! Not you again!" Nami whined, this guy was scary indeed, legs shivering. She thought this ass had been dead already..!

"Zehahahaha! You little fools! Thinking I was dead, eh? How naíve!" the tall man laughed in a pretty dirty way, showing how disgusting he was. Surprisingly, he pulled out another gun and smirked as if he was the strongest of them all. "So now who's the boss?" he asked, pointing the loaded gun towards them. Zoro cursed silently and wished he had his swords with him now, then he would show this arrogant bastard who's the boss!

The other Indians also prepared for a fight, expressions dark and full-hatred. They knew Blackbeard just too well, and they also knew what this man actually did to Ace and Luffy, and to so many other innocent people. This guy really needed a lesson.

"Stop it!" Ace all of sudden raised his voice, getting everyone's attention abruptly. He slowly stood up, a cold out Luffy in his arms, handed his brother over to the next who happened to stand there, Sanji, and narrowed his eyes at Blackbeard. The others began to gulp, having an uneasy sense of what might come next. And they had all right to feel uncomfortable. Ace stepped forwards and signaled the others to go back by shaking his head. Then he faced the hatred man he'd always wanted to kick his sorry ass.

Not for himself or his revenge for his shots and the pain, but rather for his little brother, who has been hunted by this man and his partner for so long. Ace inhaled deeply, before he growled dangerously:

"If you want to fight, then fight me!"

**YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXYY**

**Hope it was a positive surprise for you :D Ace is alive after all, yay! :) And so is Blackbeard... =0 Yes, yes, bad weeds grow tall.. And so sorry that this chapter isn't as long as the last one, but I wanted to upload today, tomorrow I'm kinda busy ;) **

**Reviews are always greatly appreciated, criticism is welcomed =) So pls leave a review! :D**

**Ja ne :D**


	29. Ace vs Blackbeard

**Hey people :) So sorry for the damn long wait! It's been way too long since the last update! A happy New Year by the way :3 **

**Special thanks to the reviewers: **

**mugiwara-cristal: I know ;) Sorry, the update took me forever! Well, thank **_**you **_**for reviewing :D **

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Yep, that guy isn't one to be killed so easily..**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Hehe, hope I could surprise you with Dragon^^ That's right lol =3**

**Dislaimer: Me? Owning One Piece? Nice try, but.. nope. Not at all. **

**YXYXYXYXYXYx**

**Chapter 29 - Ace vs. Blackbeard**

"If you want to fight, then fight me!" Ace shouted at the man before him, "but don't you dare and ever touch my brother again!"

The others gasped. "Eh..? Wait a sec, Ace!" Nami tried to stop him. A fight wouldn't be any good, there would only be more blood floating.

"Don't try to stop me! This guy needs a lesson I will teach him!" Ace yelled. "He had done unvorgiveable things not only to me or Luffy, but to so many other innocent people too! Someone needs to put a stop at that stupid killing he has been doing. And I will!" the young man with the freckles in his face stated loudly with a strong voice.

At first the others, the Indians too, wanted to protest against that ridiciulous actions of Ace - but the guy was giving such a proud aura off you wouldn't expect from Ace. But then, he was practically Luffy's brother, maybe not by blood but that didn't matter at all. So no wonder Luffy and Ace shared the same aura and kind of attitude, all above if it was about making decisions and fighting.

"So, you really think you could beat someone like me? You make me laugh, honestly!" Blackbeard meant as he loudly laughed while accidentally salviating towards Ace. Said young man turned away in disgust. How repulsive can a man be?

But Ace was definitely not someone to talk big words and he most of the times wasn't really good at doing so. So instead of throwing some meaningless insults at his opponent he went into fighting mode and let actions speak.

With one single jump he pushed his body up and in mid-air he kicked with all of his might into the ugly man's face. The others gasped in surprise and pain, Ace's feet in his face, and his respect for the younger one grew. Luffy's brother landed gracefully back onto the ground, ready to attack again.

Blackbeard on the other side wasn't the fastest guy, so it had taken him a few seconds before he realized what actually had happened. It all had happened so fast, Ace appeared out of nowhere right in front of him and gave him a piece of his mind! The next thing Blackbeard knew was that he was sitting on his butt, pistol had slipped out of his hand, and his jaw was hurting like hell. This little...! Blackbeard carefully touched his hurting jaw but noticed it wasn't broken.

The curly haired man with his four missing teeth picked himself up, trying to ignore the unbelieveable pain from his jaw. As he was standing again, he wanted to take revenge and break this friggin' kid his bones, but the next moment Ace was gone again.

Blackbeard made a surprising sound, frowning. There where only these stupid friends of...

BAM! Ace, behind the tall guy, had quickly kicked into the guy's knees from behind. An awful crack was heard and Blackbeard groaned in pain as he collapsed into the snow.

Ace smirked. That was a good feeling. He usually was not the kind of guy to enjoy revenge, but this time it was about his little brother. As he'd digged him out from under that cold snow he'd thought he'd lost him for the second time and that just was too much. So who could blame him after all?

Blackbeard panted hard, staring into the snow below him. At the moment a huge amount of anger began to build up inside of him. He couldn't believe it! This little piece of...! He couldn't beat him, HIM! There was no way in hell he would lose to that brat!

He stood up, this time a bit quicker, and faced Ace who seemed a bit surprised to see the guy recovering so fast. Blackbeard didn't listen to the shouts of his body and ignored all protests. Warm liquid made its way down his jaw and the man didn't need to be a prophesier to tell it was blood.

Luffy's brother wasn't stupid, okay, he really hadn't expected Blackbeard to stand up so fast again after that, but then he wouldn't make the bad mistake to underestimate his opponent. He knew this was the worst thing he could do, so he tried to concentrate on Blackbeards bodylanguage and movements. Ace closed his eyes to listen to the others' irregular breathing.

Blackeard saw his chance and disturbed Ace's concentration as he tried to hit the younger one with his big fist. Fortunately he missed as Ace was able to dodge thanks to the long-nosed one's warning shout.

"Thanks, man!" Ace, being the polite guy, thanked the friend of Luffy in the middle of a fight about life or death. Usopp only stared back, taken aback from that.

"No wonder the two are like brothers" he then added in a whisper and looked at the cold out Luffy.

"We.. shouldn't we help him?" Franky asked, pointing at the fighting two. "Luffy-bro's bro is having a hard time!"

Indeed, Blackbeard may be slow and not the cleverest, but he had power. Power that messed up Ace a lot.

"Argh!" Ace was thrown into the snow by the tall man. There he didn't even have the time to stand up and fight as Blackbeard already was leaning over him. A big smirk was written all over the tall guy's face as he began stomping onto Ace as if he was some kind of vermin that was needed to be killed.

"Wait a minute! We need to help him or Blackbeard will stamp him to death! It doesn't look good for him!" Nami shrieked alarmed and pushed Sanji and Zoro towards the direction of the enemy.

"Ah stop, Nami-san, I still have Luffy!" Sanji cried as he looked down at his unconscious friend. Luffy looked like he was sleeping, but it wasn't a peacful sleep. He was frowning as if he didn't want to be out cold right now. As if he was sensing something big going on he didn't want to miss.

"It's his fight! He decided he'd beat the crap out of Blackbeard and that's what he'll do. He wouldn't have began fighting if he'd known he would lose!" Zoro muttered although he'd love to kick this guy's ass. But that was Ace's job so Zoro didn't move, a stern expression upon his face.

"B-but Zoro! Do you think that's a good idea? Look!" Usopp tried. He found Nami was right, which didn't happen very often. Zoro and Sanji didn't move.

"Zoro-bro's right! Ace is SUPERR! And sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do! FIGHT for the one he loves!" Franky cried dramatically and started to tear up, sobbing loudly.

"Did that even make sense...?" Usopp murmured in wonder as he sweatdropped at the crying man.

Meanwhile, Ace felt thousands of feet stomping onto his back mercilessly with incredible force and he felt like his back would break every second. His face was showing an uncomfortable expression and he was about to simply closing his eyes and begging that it would stop soon. But he thought of Luffy and the others, his Indian friends and the many times Blackbeard had proven he was an awful and cruel guy. This, plus Ace simply wasn't the type to give up like a coward, brought him to move again.

With one breath Ace rolled to the side with his hurting back in the snow. Blackbeard grumbled, he'd been sure the guy under him would give up finally! He saw Ace's calming face as the twenty-years old enjoyed the cooling for his back and rose a brow.

"See? He doesn't need our help." Zoro said to Nami who still looked uncomfortable with that. Zoro sighed and looked at his cousin."Nami, it's his fight. A duel, what he wanted for so long. Think about it."

Nami bit her lip in worry and casted her eyes down. She knew Zoro was right, Ace should be given this chance... The chance to take revenge for him and his brother.

"It's Luffy's brother after all!" Brook said with a smile and added his famous laugh, and Franky gave Ace a thumbs up and began crying even louder, telling the others he'd write a special song for Ace.. The Indians only watched proudly, sure that Ace would not lose.

"Now that had been fun. Why did you move away?" Blackbeard asked teasingly with a smirk that showed his missing teeth. Ace jumped up and rubbed his back, panting.

Then he smirked back with one brow lifted.

"Oh, you think so? Then be fair and let me show you something even more funny!" he answered, ready to attack again.

"Tch, little cockroach." his opponent muttered pissed off by this. But he would beat him and his little wannabe-warriors! And then he'd take out Luffy and his stupid friends! He'd show them who was the boss here!

Blackbeard clenched his fists and got into a fighting position, ready to throw a fist as Ace began nearing again. The twenty-years-old lifted his right fist and aimed at Blackbeards ugly mug that was only a few centimeters away now.

The others watched tensed as Blackbeard dodged his head to the side and vice versa wanted to throw a fist at Ace's face. Said younger one acted impossible fast as he caught Blackbeards' fist with his right hand and hit him at the same time with his left fist into the others' jaw.

The curly-haired man only saw starst before his eyes as Ace's strong fist eventually broke his jaw with an awful cracking sound. He groaned in pain and stumbled back, holding his jaw with his eyes tightly shut.

The others who where watching all made a face. "Ouch..." Sanji muttered with a funny expression. The cracking noise from before had been loud enough for him and the others to hear.

Robin lifted her brow and blinked, "Ace really is strong.." she murmured a bit surprised. A jaw to break may sound not so difficult, but it can be very hard, especially from the front. Consequently it is nearly impossible to break a jaw with one fist! Immense power was required for something like this, and apparently Ace seemed to posess this power.

Brook, the medicine man, widened his eyes and gaped at Ace in surprise and respect. There was only one word to describe what he felt: Wow. The old man didn't know what else to say in this situation.

Usopp and Nami shuddered at the painful-sounding sound, but then high-fived in happiness. "Jackpot~!" they squeaked in unison.

The green haired-man didn't move, but Sanji could've sworn he'd seen a small smile on his elder brother's lips. Zoro smirked. Really, he started to like Ace a lot. After the fight, he would test how much alcohol Ace could bear in form of a competition between him and Ace..

Chopper's attention went to Sanji, therefore to Luffy again. He didn't bark or anything, just looked at his friend in worry.

Franky now gave a thumbs up again, this time with both hands as he was somewhat speechless. The Indians grinned, knowing Ace was someone you don't really want as your enemy and he'd give Blackbeard a hard time.

"Way to go, Ace!" They shouted in their language to encourage their fighting friend who grinned back with a blush. Ace didn't like it if all the attention was on him...

While he was scratching his head and waved with the other hand, Blackbeard was having a hard time not to collapse right there.

There was an unbelieveable pain in his jaw he almost couldn't take. Never in his life he'd felt that pain! Blackbeard thought his jaw would fall down every second, it felt as if Ace had ripped it off of his face before! A wave of nausea crashed over him mercilessly and his face turned pale.

"Aaah! Argh! Ahaa!" he cried in pain, still holding his jaw with his hand, afraid of losing it if he put his hands away. Slowly, he let go of his own jaw and tried to move it, but the next time he regretted that immediately as the pain seemed to double.

Ace and the others watched. Luffy's brother was unsure what to do, that guy did deserve that kind of treatment... but should he attack now again? Wasn't that a bit unfair, even if Blackbeard was a real asshole?

Ace mentally kicked that thoughts away and inhaled deeply. He had felt it. He had felt with his own fist as Blackbeard's jaw bone broke in two. That must hurt like hell, but sympathie was out of question! Ace wiped his own blood away that was coming from his bleeding nose and he looked back at Luffy, still in Sanji's arms. He thought about everything and nothing at the same time and forced his eyes to focus back on his opponent.

Said opponent was able to glare again, the pain being ignored although it was really hard to. But the last thing Blackbeard wanted to do was showing Ace weakness. So he gulped deeply and formed his hands to fists again.

"Let's finally get over with that, brat!" he scowlded madly, sweat running down Blackbeards face. Suddenly, he grabbed something inside his jacked and pulled it out, making Ace gasp.

"No way...!"

Meanwhile, only a few meters away:

"Eh guys, maybe you should take a look at Luffy, he doesn't look too well." Sanji commented as he laid the seventeen-years-old down into a blanket of fur from the Indians.

This however caught everyone's attention at once as their eyes wandered to Luffy. Brook immediately was by his side and checked him up and down.

"You are right, Sanji-san," Brook began as he still had his gaze on the strawhat teen, "he isn't really well indeed."

"What? What do you mean by that?" Usopp asked alarmed as he stared at the half-Indian in worry. His other friends weren't that calm, too and waited impatiently for an answer.

"But it's nothing I wouldn't be able to fix." he added after a tensed silence, smiling at the others as if nothing had happened. "Yohohoho~!"

Three seconds later and three big bumps on the medicine man's head later, Brook silently 'yohohoed' to himself, starting to treat Luffy's wounds with fast movements. He could feel Nami's stern glare in his back and gulped. That young woman still had her fist rised..

A shot banged, shocking everyone who was busy looking at Luffy and Brook for only a few seconds.

Robin's attention went back to the fight as her instinct had alarmed her. Indeed, something very unpleasent was occuring. "Guys, you should see this." she simply said in her calm tone, but those who knew her felt a slight worry tone in her voice which they didn't like. But they didn't even need Robin's voice to know something was terribly wrong, the loud shot was enough. Everyone went deadly silent. Expect for...

"What's wrong, Robin-darling my beauty?" Sanji chirped while his visible eye formed to a beating heart that focused on Robin's pretty face.

Zoro, being more observant than his younger brother, only rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. Then he stepped besides his brother, took Sanji's head in his hands and turned it with one strong move mercilessly into the direction Robin was looking at. A crack from Sanji's neck was heard.

"Ouch, you baka-marimo..violent gorilla..!" Sanji instinctively threw a few insults at his brother before he fell silent as he saw what Robin meant. Now all eyes were on Ace and Blackbeard.

In fact, Blackbeard was holding Ace at gunpoint, one arm around the young man's throat, the other with the pistol pointing at his head. Everyone, including the Indians, gasped in shock. They were only a few meters away from this monster with Ace, but could do nothing at all. If they only could be able to move...

Ace was as pale as a sheet, looking as if he would fall unconscious every moment. His Indian friends immediately noticed the bleeding wound in Ace's stomach which didn't look good, not at all. It was bleeding dangerously strong and Ace was gulping up some blood, gasping for air like a fish out of water.

"A-ACE!"

"S-sorry g-guys.. he s-suddenly pulled o-out a- g-gun and s-shot.." Ace answered in an alarmingly weak tone.

"You damn bastard! That was everything but fair!" Zoro yelled. If there was something he truly hated and disrespected then it was if someone wasn't fair in a fight. Like Blackbeard.

"Zehahaha! Looks like I've won again, right? No wonder! Zehahaha!" Blackbead began to state loudly even though his jaw hurted like hell. "Don't make a single move or this guy here will be as dead as Crocodile, got it?"

Everyone immediately froze. What should they do now? What was this bastard planning now? Would it never end? Thoughts were racing, hearts beating fast, all of them tried as best as they could manage at the moment to find a solution, how to stop Blackbeard and help Ace out of this. Truth be told, Luffy's big brother needed medical help now! Otherwise this wouldn't be a happy end for him...

Franky's eyes widened to the maximum. "Aaaargh, what now? Gimme a break, man!" he screamed, hands on his head in shock.

"Ace-san..." Brook said, mouth wide open.

"T-this can't be! What should we do?" Nami whispered, cold sweat ran down her cheek.

"Zehaha~! You guys did never stand a chance against me! Now listen closely to what I say!" Blackbeard began while smirking, which never meant any good so the others feared. And they could guess what would come now. Blackeard would blackmail them, that's for sure.

"What the fuck do you want? Money?" Usopp screamed at him, angry like never before, legs shaking but voice strong. 'This friggin' monster... he can't even be fair in a duel ...!' He grumbled at him, although he was scared like hell. But that was just too much! How much damage, despondency and sadness did he want to bring to people? And.. how could he live with that?

'Good thing Luffy doesn't have to witness that.' the Indian with the long nose thought.

Blackbeard's smirk grew even more, as if he enjoyed the negative attention he got. "So, first of all I want you," he pointed at Sanji with his gun, "to tie your little friends to this tree over there," now he pointed to a tall fir tree not far away. Sanji seemed surprised first, then anger took over again.

"What? No way!" He yelled without thinking and Nami hit him over the head at the same time.

Blackbeard's laugh stopped abprubtly and he rose a brow. "You refuse? Don't you think Luffy-_kun _would be really sad if he lost his beloved, precious brother? Are you that selfish?" he wondered aloud dramatically, faking a sad face and brought Sanji's blood to boil. Oh how much he'd love to kick that ...!

Blackbeard's grip around Ace's neck tightened and made the young man gasp and cough up more blood.

"Ace!" one of the Indians cried, furious at Blackbeard and fearing for their friends' life. "Hey brow! Do something!"

Zoro almost, almost chuckled and wanted to say 'See I told ya you have a damn pathetic eyebrow' but gulped the snicker down in success.

Sanji's fist tightened and he muttered something under his breath, glaring at the tall man with the curly locks. Before his visible eyes he saw himself strangling that guy. He inhaled deeply to calm himself and began to do as he was told. Surprisingly, Blackbeard had a rope with him and threw it at Sanji who caught it in surprise. But then, Blackbeard was carrying numerous of guns under his jacket, so why not a rope to strangle someone? The blonde cook quickly shook his head, hushing the ridiculious thought away.

"Run, Chopper, run! And come back soon again, you hear me?" Usopp whispered at Chopper who fully understood his mission and what it meant. Nami, Brook, Robin and Franky were standing before the long-nosed Indian and the dog to cover them from Blackbeards' eyes.

"What's wrong, guys? Are you deaf? Help the blondie and go over there, or should he carry you one by one?" the man with the missing teeth shouted amused at the Indians and Sanji's friends who glared back but didn't answer. Blackbeard spit some blood into the snow, smirking although it hurted.

Usopp gulped and watched as Chopper dashed away, carefully but quickly. The Indian prayed for the little dog and that he would return soon, otherwise...

"Move your asses over to that tree, would ya?" the curly haired man added as he snickered at the same time, finding it all very funny. He loved it if he was the boss and could order people around.

"Let's do what he says." Robin said calmly but her eyes were shining in hate at the man. She began walking towards the mentioned tree and reached it first, the others following. Franky was carrying the still cold out Luffy.

"Well, it's not like we have any other choice.." Zoro grumbled bad-tempered. 'This bastard really thinks he's the greatest... what an ass.'

"If this son of a b- dares to kill Ace, then I'll guarantee for nothing!" Muscowe spat, completely pissed off. If only Ace could manage to get away... then this scumbag would need a good doctor after his treatment!

"Why- why is this all happening now? I thought we'd finally win!" Nami whined desperately, ready to collapse due to exhaustion and shock. This was just too much! First the damn avalanche were she'd thought her friends all had died, now Ace being held at gunpoint.. when would this all stop finally?

Just the moment Sanji was about to put the rope around the tree and his friends Blackbeard voiced again, much to everyone's dislike. And what he said was even more terrible.

"Wait before you tie them to the tree." he said. "I don't need that useless scum here anymore, I have what I wanted. But I could need a... nice little wife." At that everyone held their breath. Would he...?

"I want you, the girl with the orange hair, to be my wife." he smirked due to the pain in his broken jaw. But the fact he'd get his own, beautiful wife just let his lips go up.

"M-me..?" Nami stuttered in fear as more sweat broke out. Her eyes widened in fear. She looked at the others, silently begging for some help although she knew at the same time it was useless. Blackbeard had a hostage which meant he could do with them as he pleased. They practically had no other choice as listening to that guy.

It was truly a horrible situation for them...

"That's right, honey! You look damn sexy and you are still young enough... what a perfect combination!" he smirked in a disgusting way that sent shivers down Nami's spine. That guy would rape her for sure if he had her in his dirty fingers.

"Come over here and I'll give you Ace back! That's what you want, right?" he laughed again but stopped abprubtly as he felt the immense pain of his broken jaw.

"Nami-sis...!" Franky started to tear up again, sobbing but this time no one could blame him really. They all felt like crying, too. Especially Nami herself. She didn't want to be this... guy's wife! God knows what he would do to her! In fact, she'd rather die than living together with this monster! But what could she do? She was their only hope to get Ace back.

"You ass! You can't do that!" one of the Indians said with hate in his voice. What did Blackbeard want at next?

"We -we won't hand her over, you butthead!" Usopp yelled with wide eyes.

"You friggin' dirty old man!" Sanji screamed with all of his might, face as red as a tomato. Everything, his own life he'd give, but not his sweet cousin Nami! Not someone of his friends or family!

Sanji breathed in deeply to yell again, but Nami put her shivering hands over her cousin's mouth.

"Sanji, stop it! STOP BEING AN IDIOT!" she suddenly yelled as her hair covered her eyes. Everyone went silent, knowing how the girl must feel and no one wanted to be in her situation.

"B-but...N-Nami-san.. I only wanted to help you.." Sanji murmured in shock and sadness, looking with eyes wide opened at his beautiful cousin he hated to see sad.

Nami didn't answer, and just hugged him quickly before she let go, eyes still shaded. She grinned.

"You baka! It's okay, I don't want Ace to get hurt more. It's not like we had any other choice, right? Stop being a gentleman." she whispered with a fake smile.

Because even if she didn't say it out loud, she didn't want to make her friends worry, although she couldn't stop them from doing so. But even though, she faked a grin and pretended to face her fate in a strong way. With that, she turned away, whispering a small 'sorry' before she walked over to Blackbeard.

"N-Nami do-don't!" Ace tried, eyes only half opened. Nami just ignored him, eyes downcast as she reached the two.

She didn't dare to look Blackbeard into the eyes as she didn't want to see that face. But she had to be strong, Luffy had helped - no, not only helped. He'd risked his life and freed her from Arlong! And after that, he'd have given his life for Nami as that guy wanted to shoot at her - and Luffy had thrown himself before her.

He would have died if it hadn't been for the small and beautiful necklace he'd gotten from his mother. So now it was her turn. She knew Luffy wouldn't be able to take it if Ace died - just after he had gotten his brother back. That would be too terrible, Nami didn't even want to imagine that.

So it was only fair what she did for Luffy and Ace now.

"Nice, nice... you are even hotter now that you are so near.. I think you are a good choice." Blackbeard licked his lips and Nami felt sick but tried not to listen to him.

She gulped down her fear and inhaled deeply. Then she looked up and with a strong and proud glare the girl looked the murderer directly into the eyes without showing any fear. "Let him go. Now." she growled dangerously, inwardly surprised how strong her voice sounded.

Ace coughed, staring at the girl in front of him. He felt so bad, so ashamed. Now this friend of his little brother would sacrifice herself for him. That was something Ace certainly didn't want to happen! He had been so sure he'd be able to beat Blackbeard! He'd trained so hard to become strong the past years, and for what?

Only that someone else would have to give her life for him? How could this have happen? He hadn't trained so hard and long so that this would happen! He wanted to avoid awful situations like these and now...! He could kick himself.

But then, it was only Blackbeard to blame. No one could have thought anything like this would happen. No one could have expected Blackbeard to have another gun that still worked after the avalanche! As if that bastard had all this planned... That was impossible! And that this guy would play so unfair and inhuman and simply, during a fair man-against-man duel, shoot at his taken aback opponent?

He was a dirty coward. Simply as that.

"Nami, do-don't..what would Luffy say? Don't!" Ace repeated one more time with his weak voice, blood running down his jaw. The pain was unbearable, as if someone had let a bomb exploding on his stomach. The warm liquid was running down his body, tripping onto the snow below him. The coldness around him let it froze immediately.

"Shut it." Nami coldly spat at Ace and pulled him out of Blackbeard's grip. Ace gasped and landed into the snow where he didn't move besides that breathing.

"Zehehe. You seem to be a cool Lady, darling. I already like you." Blackbeard whispered at Nami who didn't move, her cold and uncaring expression stayed as she didn't even look back at Ace who must be in immense pain right now. '_Sorry_...' she inwardly thought.

"Hey, you! Do you think this is a little child's game? I'm serious, dammit! Tie these asses to the tree, will ya? Or I'll shoot at this beauty here!" Blackbeard yelled and grabbed Nami who yelped with eyes tightly shut. She kept repeating in her mind that everything would be alright and that it was for Luffy's sake, so that she stopped herself from crying in fear.

"Namii!" Her friends shouted. Sanji immediately bit his lip as hard as he could, not caring he started to bleed and began tieing the others to the tree. Finally, he was finished and just the moment he wanted to turn around, Blackbeard lifted his gun and pointed at Sanji's back.

"NO!" Nami shouted with tears in her eyes, struggling in Blackbeard's strong grip around her neck. He only needed one hand to held her in place which made Nami feel weaker than ever.

The shout however alarmed Sanji and he instinctively ducked as Blackbeard shot, missing the blond cook only a few centimeters.

"What the hell?" he screamed in shock, kneelin on the ground.

"Sanji, look out!" Usopp warned him as he tried to free his hands with his struggling. Not only that the huge tree was damn cold, but of course he was tired of watching - he wanted to help Sanji and not just watch how he got shot. But the rope was a strong one, not easily being ripped in two although everyone struggled, safe for Luffy.

Another shot filled the air. This time Sanji had barely managed to jump aside and was panting hard, watching Blackbeards' moves carefully. 'If he hadn't Nami-san in his arms...!'

"You little pest! Quit moving! I only have two more bullets left!" Blackbeard seemed to be pissed off, too and Nami digged her nails into his arm to come free. "Leave him alone!" she shrieked as the tears rolled down her cheek. The cold air blew into her face, wiping the hot tears away.

"STop struggling, bitch!" he barked at her before he focused back onto Sanji. 'He's totally insane!' shot through Nami's head and she just couldn't stop crying. Hadn't she given her life for Ace and the rest? Hadn't she sacrificed herself so that Blackbeard finally would stop with this blind and insane murdering? So why did he still want to kill?

Why?

Nami couldn't find an answer to that as everything in her mind began to twist due to exhaustion and all the things that had happened the past hours. She began shouting and screaming, everything around her began to get blurry and she could hear her own cries echoing in her head.

'He'll kill all of us' shot through her exhausted mind and she just felt like going to sleep. But suddenly, just as her body was about to collapse and Blackbeard wanted to shoot at Sanji again, a strong voice filled the air and her vision began to get clear again. Her tired mind stopped twisting and her legs stood strong in the snow. Blackbeard froze, Sanji's glance wandered back to the tree and the others gasped, too.

"STOP THIS! STOP IT FINALLY!" Luffy yelled and put all of his energy into that shout. He'd just woken up and found everything in chaos. It was terrible. He felt like just collapsing again and sleep away his body's immense exhaustion but forced his mind to not do so.

"L-Luffy-san?" Brook gasped, half-reliefed, half shocked. He hadn't thought the teenager would wake up so fast!

"LUFFYY!" Usopp voiced besides him, and the other Indians only gaped at the teen. He looked like he would explode every second.

"Strawhat!" Franky gaped with wide eyes. What would happen next?

"Eh, Luffy?" Sanji commented surprised. He was only three meters away from his friends on the tree.

"You? You can still talk?" Blackbeard stated pissed off. He'd thought the little pain in the ass would be sleeping for a while..

But then, what could he do? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! He was tied to the tree as well as his useless friends! He wouldn't be any danger, nothing to worry about.

"What did you do? You damn bastard! What did you do to Ace?" Luffy coughed, eyes focused at his bleeding brother who laid in the snow, unmoving. "And don't you dare and lay your dirty fingers on Nami! Let her GO!" he shouted with so much force and surprisingly strong, so that Blackbeard almost dropped his gun into the snow.

He bit his lip although it hurted, and forced his arm to keep the weapon. 'Just his stupid voice, nothing to worry about!' he repeated again in his mind. Then he found his courage again, and glared straight back at the teen who was tied to the tree besides his friends.

"Don't think you can do anything in you situation, you pathetic pest! This was the last time you insulted my ears by talking! Look, look how I kill your friend and you can't do ANYTHING!" Blackbeard beamed loudly with his dirty voice, causing an echo through the whole valley. He aimed at a shocked Sanji and pulled the trigger without mercy.

"NO! SANJII!" Luffy, Nami and the rest shouted helplessly with wide eyes. "Run, Dammit, RUN!"This can't be happening! Not Sanji!

The bullet raced through the air, knowing it's aim perfectly; Sanji's forehead. It all happened too fast for anyone to react, not even the cook himself could dodge. It had been nearly impossible to dodge the first shoots aimed at him, which had been a miracle itself. But this time he couldn't. His legs didn't move, only his eyes could widen and his heart stopped for a few seconds as the bullet was about to pierce through his head.

However, this never happened. The bullet stopped a few centimeters before his head. Everyone witnessed this and began to breathe again, not believing Sanji did survive.

Luffy, mouth opened in a silent scream, found his voice again. "Y-you..." he began in a shaky voice, "Z-Zoro.."

Indeed, it was Zoro who had saved the cook's life. He had one of his katanas pulled out and was standing right in front of his younger brother protectively.

Sanji himself was at a loss of words. "M-marimo.. you s-staved it off with...Kuina's sword..?" His legs gave out and he gulped down deeply, feeling his heart beating again, but fast like a drum.

Zoro first didn't move, as everyone's attention was on him, even Blackbeard's. Zoro looked calm, like he had expected it would work and he could save his brothers' live, but inwardly he was still gasping for air in shock and surprise that he made it. He looked at his sword, actually his little sister's sword, and thanked her inwardly that he's allowed to use it.

Zoro now felt... good. He'd made it. He'd really saved him. So... maybe he wasn't that bad of a brother after all? Maybe Luffy had been right back then, what he told him?

He chuckled to himself and put the sword back to the other two. It was amazing the three katanas survived this all, even the avalanche. But Zoro didn't question it, it was just as it was.

Finally he turned around, offering his curly-brow brother a hand to stand up. Sanji took it after a few seconds and stood up, still sweating. The two stared at each other for a short amount of time, before Sanji began talking again, voice not as shaky as before.

"How did you...?" He started and looked at the tree. But the cook fell silent as he saw the rope being cut in two and all of his nakama free. 'Geeze, this Marimo...' he thought with a sigh. Maybe not such a bad brother after all.

Zoro wanted to turn around to face Blackbeard, but before he heard Sanji something whisper. "Thanks, baka Marimo."

He smirked. "I only did my job as your bro, curly cheese." he replied and made Sanji chuckle. None of the others had noticed this and began babbling about Zoro's awesomeness and that they were so glad Sanji was alright after all.

"Zoro, you're amazing!" Luffy grinned and poked him in the head in happiness. Zoro just grumbled something back.

"Sanji, thank God..." Nami whispered gladly, reliefed to no end.

Blackbeard grumbled madly, like a pissed-off bear, and threw his gun away, tightening the grip around Nami . "These little...!"

**YXYXYXYXYX**

**This was a lot of work to write.. but I didn't want to end the chapter with a cliffhanger again, and continued writing. And ended up with a cliffhanger again Dx Sorry! **

**I hope you enjoyed reading and hopefully this chapter was a bit exciting! ;D**

**Please leave a review, people! =3 You would make me very very happy with that!**

**Ja ne ;)**


	30. You've lost!

**Hey guys :D**

**On to the people who were so nice and reviewed! Thank you! **

**DarkAndStormyNight: Hehe sorry^^ Yup, he is! :)**

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Don't worry ;)**

**Also thanks to those who faved this story, it's really great but it would be amazing if you reviewed next time! ;D**

**I apologize for any grammatical mistakes. **

**Warning: Well... a surprise is coming this chapter and something that could be seen as a small LuNa moment, but it's nothing serious.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own this!**

**YXYXYXYYXYXXYXY**

**Chapter 30 - You've lost!**

Blackbeard couldn't believe it. Always, always when he was so damn close to kill one of these bastards, an impossible thing happened and he couldn't get rid of these brats. Somehow they always manage to survive. It seemed as if even Heaven itself was against him, which wouldn't be something surprising by the way.

"Sanji, I'm so glad!" Nami sighed and wanted to hug the cook in her relief but Blackbeard still wouldn't let go of her. His grip around her even tightened until it hurt.

"Argh..!" The orange haired girl closed her eyes and bit her lip. She hated this man so much and found him more than disgusting. Not only that he was smelling like he'd never seen a soap in his life, nor a teethbrush. But he had an attitude that made Nami wanting to throw up right there.

"Haiii, Nami-darliiing~!" Sanji was showing his love for Nami in an extreme way, his visible eye began to form to a big, pounding heart. The next moment however his eye(s) went back to sending death glares at the bastard besides his cousin.

Nami found herself shivering. All this excitement, tensing, hate, fear, exhausting began to control her body and she could do nothing about it. Blackbeard noticed this of course and rose a brow in such an arrogant way Sanji grumbled something in hate.

"Hey people, I don't see the reason for you to be so happy." Blackbeard suddenly shouted and Nami flinched at this guy's voice. The others immediately had their attention focused on this guy. "I still have this sexy bitch! If you move she'll die. I'll just break her neck, got it?"

Luffy's eyes widened. Blackbeard was right. They had no chance. He knew, if any of them would move and come nearer then they'd lose Nami forever. Blackbeard wouldn't hesitate to kill her even if she was a girl.

"You wanker! Don't think you will get rid of us that easily!" Sanji screamed, hating it if someone called Nami that and made an attempt to step over to the man and his cousin. Blackbeard smirked as if he'd known this would happen and took the young woman's head in his hands.

"I will free her!" Sanji just ignored Blackbeard stubbornly. He was at his max of strenght, couldn't think straight anymore, just wanted everything to end. Just wanted Nami back unharmed. He couldn't stand seeing his beautiful cousin in this monster's hands anymore.

His brother was in a similar mood as him but hid it better. But even though, Sanji could see right through his brother's glare and what he saw looked like a vulcan shortly before explosing. Zoro gritted his teeth and tightened his grip around the sword, growling something under his breath. If only this bastard could face him in a mano a mano fight. Then Blackbeard wouldn't be wearing this friggin' smirk in his face! Zoro growled again, this time it sounded more dangerous.

"You frigging bastard! What do you want? Let Nami-sis go!" Franky stepped bevore Sanji and covered the cook's sight as he lifted his arms as a sign of clear protest. Franky was ready to fight, but it couldn't be helped as that ass was treating them in such a cowardly way.

"Franky, stop it! There's no point in trying to fight him as long as he has Nami!" Robin softly but firmly stopped the blue-haired man with a simple touch on his shoulder. Of course she was inwardly already fighting with this man, but the truth was an other situation. The Indians silently agreed and stepped closer to Sanji and Zoro just in case.

Usopp was silently praying for Chopper to reach his aim safely and come back soon. The little dog was their last hope and if Chopper failed then they practically had no chance to get Nami back. He looked into the direction the fluffy husky disappeared to and felt his legs shivering under him. 'Hurry up, Chopper! We need help now!'

Luffy threw another insult at the man before he realized his brother still lying in the snow unmoving. He gasped and ran towards Ace without thinking twice and even Sanji couldn't hold him back. Blackeard frowned and was about to just turn Nami's head around but decided against it as Luffy only wanted to go to his brother. The friends were afraid Blackbeard would kill his hostage now and gasped. Within two seconds he was by his big brothers side and shaked the older's shoulders desperately. Blackbeard didn't move and Nami as well as the others sighed reliefed until they heard Luffy's voice.

"Ace! Oi, Ace! You with me? Hey!" he tried and heard his own voice cracking. He was kneeling besides Ace in the red coloured snow due to the warm liquid that kept on running down Ace's stomach. It looked horrible and for one moment Luffy feared Ace wasn't even alive anymore. Luckily the man with the freckles around his nose gave a weak cough and managed to turn his head a little to his younger brother.

"A-Ace! You ... are bleeding ..." Luffy knew this sounded weak but didn't care. The words just floated out of his trempling lips and the strawhat teen felt like crying. He didn't want to see so much blood anymore. His friends showed a shocked to sad expression, tension and silence pressing down on them.

"Luffy..." Nami too felt like she was going to cry. The scene a few meters before her was just looking too damn sad and she wished she could help Luffy or at least hug him. Yeah, a simple hug would do. Nami's tears made their way down her face and dripped onto Blackbeard's arm. The young woman was trembling all over her body and wanted to get rid of those arms, wanted to be free! She wanted to run to Luffy and support him or do something for Ace! Luffy's brother wasn't dead and if someone did some medical treatment then maybe ... then maybe Luffy didn't have a reason to be sad. Then maybe Ace wouldn't die...

If only she could be free of those arms! And why was none of her friends moving? They stood there and stared at her and back to Luffy and Ace, looking as if they didn't know what to do. What the heck was wrong with them? They could help their friend who was kneeling in his brother's blood, ready to collapse. Luffy carefully turned his brother slowly. He supported his head and neck, taking a closer look at the wound that didn't seem to stop bleeding. The seventeen-years-old gulped and a few tears began to form in his eyes. The area were Ace was shot didn't look good at all and at simple movements Ace gritted his teeth in pain.

Short and raspy breaths were taken and Ace weakly looked up to his long lost younger brother. And although it was really freezing, Ace felt a few sweat drops rolling down his forehead and cheeks. The world around him almost seemed to be gone, a weary and cloudy picture of white and a few persons left. Only Luffy seemed to be really there and could be seen clearly.

Ace coughed with his eyes shut tightly in pain. Every breath he took felt like another shot in his wound! He heard Luffy calling his name a few times and his pale lips formed to a weak smile.

"Ace! Don't you dare and just ... go!" Luffy's voice cracked and his hands were shaking violently. His brother looked so pale and exhausted, with dark shadows under the half-opened eyes. "Don't you just leave me here like this.." he voiced again and even though Luffy's voice was really silent, everyone had heard it.

Ace smiled and weakly rose a brow. "You ...leaving ..here like ... this?" he coughed. "Baka.. as if.. I would.. let... my only little brother... in such a d..an..gerous world like this.. all..alone.." Ace silently laughed although it really hurt. Luffy looked pale too and Ace wondered if it was because of him.

"You..." Luffy began, but looked at the badly bleeding wound of his brother again. Ace could feel his younger brother's fist clenching. The younger one shot his head around and looked at the little group of people he called his nakama. They all flinched as they met with Luffy's desperate and shocked glance.

"What's wrong with you? Brook! Come over here! Help Ace!" he shouted and his voice cracked again. Now a tear managed to escape his eye and ran down his left cheek as Ace coughed again. "Move over here! Help! Help me!" he continued with a desperate voice.

"...Luffy" Sanji mouthed and frowned sadly. He wanted to help, he really did, but Blackbeard's voice stopped them all from moving. He laughed in his dirty way and pulled Nami's jaw slightly up. The young woman gasped in shock and froze, as well as the others.

"Like I said, move and the bitch will die." he warned again, causing the friends to grumble. Blackbeard really was a monster, more than that.

Zoro, Robin and the Indians shot lots of death glares at Blackbeard, feeling so weak and useless at the moment. A few tears began to prick in Usopp's eyes and he wanted something to shoot, anything. If only he had his bow with him then he maybe could free Nami... if only they had never ever come to this place, just for stupid gold!

What could they do with it now?

Nothing, it was completely useless, just cold metal. His shaky hands quickly began to wipe a few tears away and he cursed himself for being no help at all. But the other friends felt like that too and wished they could do anything. Sanji's glance rested on Luffy's shaky form and the cook couldn't watch Luffy look like this, biting his own lip in pain.

Brook had his old eyes closed, he couldn't bear watching this whole situation. Couldn't this all just stop? He wanted to step over to his little friend and give Ace medical treatment, he could help Ace for sure! Was this Blackbeard really thinking this all was funny?

"Guys!" Luffy cried. "Don't let him die...! Please help..." he didn't really understand anything that was going on. He only saw his brother hurt badly and saw Ace's damn pale sweaty face. Saw the still bleeding wound and the red liquid running down his hands, saw Nami in danger, saw his friends not moving at all, and... saw this damned smirking face of _him _again.

"Why don't you help..." Luffy murmured weakly and the hot tears covered his face. No one did make a move although Luffy's friends felt like someone pierced their hearts. The exhausted strawhat teen buried his pale face in his brother's jacket, crying. He didn't want to lose him, not again. How can life be that cruel? Luffy couldn't think straight and just kept on weeping. It was like a mental breakdown and there wasn't really anything he could do to change it.

That was when Blackbeard laughed again. And that was when Nami couldn't take it anymore. With one loud shriek Nami bit deeply and with all strenght she could manage at the moment into Blackbeard's arm. The man's laughter died immediately and instead of it a surprised yelp was heard, he flinched and pulled his arms back. Now all the attention, except of Luffy's and Ace's, was on the two and Nami turned around to hit Blackbeard.

The orange-haired woman cried and just hit the guy, over and over again, releasing all the anger and hate on him. She just couldn't bear hearing his dirty laughs and at the same moment seeing the sadness, shock and concern in her friends eyes.

"Nami!" Usopp shouted as his eyes widened slightly. What was she doing? Blackbeard would kill her after that! Usopp grabbed his head and turned to the others, silently pleading them to do something. But their attention was all on Nami.

The young woman didn't listen and just kept on hitting the yelping man who seemed pissed off.

"NAMI RUN AWAY!" Sanji's eyes widened and he wished his cousin would just run for her life. But he somewhat could understand her feelings and wanted to do the same thing to Blackbeard.

The Indian beauty with the ocean blue eyes gasped at that. "Nami! Stop!"

"You monster...! MONSTER! What did you do? You..!" Nami couldn't stop throwing insults at the man and hit him. She wanted to stop him from doing such things. How could a man like him still laugh about this? Just how was this possible such bastards existed? She didn't understand. But she understood one thing: He was a true, cruel monster and didn't have the right to laugh about such a terrible thing.

And someone had to stop him.

Too late she realized Blackbeard wasn't even giving a damn at those hits he recieved. He stopped dodging and grumbled, eyes glistening in madness and anger. He quickly lifted his hand, formed to a strong fist and hit Nami right into the face.

"NAMI!" Franky yelled, watching in horror. They all hadn't moved much, completely exhausted and shocked to no end. It was frigging cold and everything that was happening around them was stressing and just too much. They couldn't really think straight anymore and just wanted everything to stop. And now they had to watch how Nami was getting hit really hard and collapsed with a yelp into the snow.

"Frigging bastard!" Sanji screamed in his furiousness, head as red as a tomato. Zoro's fist clenched so tight his knuckles turned completely white.

Brook was shocked too and gaped at the cruel man. He wanted to help the girl so badly. But at the same time he didn't forget about Ace who could die any moment and took advantage of the situation. The old doctor dashed over to the still shocked Luffy and Ace whose glance didn't seem to rest onto something special, just staring into nothing.

"There! Let me treat him! Luffy-san, it's not too late" he began, his heart racing like never before as he carefully but quickly began to treat the young man. Luffy coughed and looked up, a bit of Ace's blood on his face.

"B-Brook...!" he just said and felt his lips trembling. He looked down at his brother, realizing he was in good hands. Luffy tried to order his confused mind, his heat shot around on its own and he took in the scene. He had quickly noticed what was going on and couldn't describe what kind of furiousness was rising inside his chest. His thoughts raced, his heart bumped like a drum and he stood up on shaky legs, wiping some of the blood and the tears away.

He'd really thought he'd lose his brother again and tiredness had taken advantage of him. But his brother wouldn't die, Ace himself had said that. And Brook was a great doctor, he'll safe him for sure, Luffy knew he could rely on his Indian friend.

Luffy took a few shaky breaths to stady himself and scanned the area. 'This is not the time to weep. I can still do something. It's not over yet!' shot through his head and that's why he pushed his concern and shock aside as best as he could and focused on the others. Nami laid in the snow, bleeding in the face and glared with teary eyes at the man above her. He looked like he was going to do something horrible and Luffy's eyes widened in horror.

His friends were in the same state and opened their mouths in silent shock. "Nami run!" they all screamed as loud as they could, beginning to run towards their orange-haired friend. They just had to help her! "Leave her alone!"

It all happened so fast. Blackbeard quickly had jumped towards the helpless female and made an attempt to kill her. Nami struggled as best as she could and screamed - but it all was no use as the fat man began grabbing her throat and tightened his grip. Her friends screamed her name in panic and seemed to near, they yelled at Blackbeard and insulted him and she felt getting weaker and weaker.

Then, as she was about to lose consciousness, the pain suddenly vanished and the pressure around her throat was gone in an instant. Blackbeard groaned and fell back with a thud. Nami carefully opened her eyes and only felt tears running down her face and the pain in her throat.

The tall man with the black hair stood over Blackbeard, glaring at the man. The Indian still had his arms lifted as if he was ready to hit Blackbeard again, fighting mode. Then, as he'd made sure the cruel man wouldn't stand up within a few minutes, he turned around and faced the still confused Nami with a motionless expression.

The next thing Nami knew was that all of her friends were by her side, helping her up, hugging her, babbling things in relief. That was when she slowly began to realize what exactly was going on, her own heartbeat getting calmer again. She blinked. There before her and her friends was Dragon!

Not only him, but his men, Garp and the Indian's men, all of them were there! Dragon, expressing an extremely powerful aura, opened his mouth and only said following two words:

"We won."

And caused everyone to cheer. All the Indians from the two different tribes, normally enemies until death, were hugging each other, congratulating and laughing together.

Even Chopper barked and enjoyed the cheers and pets he got from the others, especially from Usopp.

"Chopper! Well done, my friend!" the long nosed Indian cheered happily and overjoyed, just like the rest. Nami felt a soft smile spread across her lips. "Heh, you really saved our asses." Zoro commented and also grinned at the dog who seemed to understand everything they said, barking back as a reply.

"Nami! Are you okay?" Sanji asked and not only his worried voice but also the way he called his cousin 'Nami' and not 'Nami-chan' or whatever showed he nearly had gotten a heart attack back then. Nami reassured her cousin she's okay and giggled. She just couldn't help it. It was over now.

"Ace!" the Indian's ran to their hurt friend and were by his and Brooks side within two seconds. Sad man was already looking better, much to everyone's surprise. But then, Brook really was the best doctor they knew. Ace truly was in good hands. "Hey guys." he managed to say with a foolish grin and they all sweat-dropped. Yeah, Ace would be okay, definitely.

"Don't you think you could get rid of me that *cough* easily!" they all shot around in surprise, eyes wide as they saw Blackbeard standing again. More blood was dripping down his mouth and face, looking like he would just collapse every moment. Obviously he was in pain and had difficults to breath. He couched and the red liquid spluttered into the snow.

"No way! You frigging bastard!" Sanji sweared. The blond cook had enough of that bad weed that kept on getting up over and over again. Sanji positioned himself right in front of Nami and Robin to shield them if Blackbeard was to attack again.

"What the fuck?" Zoro simply commented, obviously everything but amused. This guy was the most annoying and disgusting man he'd ever seen. And now Zoro payed even less respect to this guy as Blackbeard just didn't know when to stop. He'd already lost and should accept it!

"S-seriously! What's wrong with this guy? Wasn't he hit in the neck by the strong looking chief there?" Usopp bibbered and stood near Franky, cold sweat running down his cheek. Franky and the rest were at least as shocked as their long nosed friend. Was Blackbeard even human, standing up again and again? But one thing they all knew: Blackbeard was damn stubborn.

Blackbeard was holding his beloved gun in a shaky hand, breathing loudly. He looked very exhausted, no wonder after all he went through the past hours. It was a surprise itself that the curly-haired guy was even able to stand!

"None of you'll survive! I will kill everyone! You little pests don't stand a chance!" he chocked out and moaned in pain after talking. His jaw hurt like hell and for a moment he only saw black. Blackbeard shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and suddenly, most to everyones's shock, pointed the gun at Garp. Mentioned Indian just glared back and didn't move.

Brook, Ace and his friends stared in shock, unable to make a move. Wasn't it over yet? How could the asshole still manage to not collapse after the hit he'd recieved from Dragon? "N-no way.." Ace murmured, gulping in fear. His eyes clearly were on his brother, wishing he could protect Luffy now.

"Zehahaha! At the end it appears I'm still the tougher one, aren't I ? See, it actually is true what they always say! The one who laughs last laughs best!" Blackbeard tried to smirk but gave it up as his jaw hurt too much. Ace noticed the pained expression on their enemies' face and couldn't help but grin at that. Heh. At least he'd given this bastard a nice broken jaw. He inwardly congratulated himself for doing that to Blackbeard.

"J-Just give it up! It's over! You've lost already!" Nami shouted at Blackbeard and he just 'zehaha' -ed at that, despite the pain. "I'm the stronger one. I've won, like I always win!" he responded somewhat proudly, making an attempt to fire the gun.

"Oi, louse," a voice stated, sounding beyond pissed off. " Are you deaf or something?" Luffy grumbled, fists shaking in rage. Blackbeard's laughter died at once and he went back to seriousness, pointing the gun at Luffy instead. "You are the first! Die!" he shouted, hand trembling in exhaustion but he forced to hold it up on his 'victim'.

"You dickhead! Put that fucking gun down!" Sanji wanted to take a step forward but Robin held him back, showing an unmoved expression. "Eh? Robin-chwan, why.." he started but shut up as Robin put her hand over the cooks mouth. Nami didn't seem to understand either and looked at the Indian beauty with a frowning expression.

"Robin...?" she began, but no answer came from the black-haired beauty.

Luffy suddenly shot forwards, directly at Blackbeard and grumbled. "You've lost!" Luffy shouted and didn't stop as Blackbeard pulled the trigger. Nami and Usopp began to shriek, hands shielding their ears and Ace shouted loudly, unable to do anything. The rest was just as taken aback as Luffy's friends and gasped loudly.

"Luffy stop!" Sanji and Franky shouted in unison, eyes as big as plates.

But the strawhat teen didn't stop. He reached Blackbeard in less than a second and that was when the curly-haired man realized his weapon didn't have any bullets left to fire. He shrieked in realization and wanted to stumble back in shock as Luffy's glare seemed to pierce right through him. Blackbeard, still the weapon lifted, widened his eyes as Luffy quickly lifted his leg, saying: "This..." and kicked Blackbeards gun out of his hand, "...is for what you've done to the Indians!" he shouted.

"Argh! What.." Blackbeard began, rubbing his hand but was cut off without mercy. The seventeen-years old boy spun around, "..this..", he began and hit the man with all of his might right into the face. "..Is for what you did to Nami!" The strawhat teen yelled.

"..this.. is for what you did to Ace!" Luffy pulled his hand back and hit him again, hearing Blackbeard scream. The ugly man stumbled back, holding his face in pain and groaned, unable to fight back. Blackbeard coughed, gasping in pain.

"And this..." the strawhat teen began again in his rage, "..IS FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY FAMILY!" he screamed as loud as he could. Then Luffy, without stopping, lifted his leg and buried it right into Blackbeard's ugly face with surprisingly strength. The man cried out in immense pain and surprise, feeling his jaw's bone cracking into pieces as well as his nose. "Aaargh!" Blackbeard's eyes rolled back, blood splattered and he crashed into the snow, the darkness surrounding him. The huge body didn't make a move again.

Luffy stood near him, hands formed to tight fists, breathing. First silence pressed down, everyone needed a few seconds to realize what had happened just now and that Blackbeard was beaten indeed. The first seconds passed, and suddenly the quiet atmosphere changed into that of a loud and cheerful one.

"You did it! Amazing!" Usopp cried and put one arm around Luffy's shoulder, the other lifted into the air. "You've beaten him!"

Luffy's serious face vanished in an instant. The seventeen-years old blinked, before he turned around to face the cheering crowd of Indians. Now it really was all over, Blackbeard had lost.

Dragon, up to now he hadn't said or moved much, lifted his mouth to a small smirk, shaking his head. "Tch. This boy..." he murmured, making sure no one heard him.

Franky seemed to enjoy the happy atmosphere and put his sunglasses back on, lifting both arms while yelling: "Now that really was extremely SUPAA!"

Zoro only rose a brow and looked at Nami, pointing to his head like saying ' Old Franky's back. Crazy as ever'. His orange-haired cousin began to laugh loudly which Sanji soon joined. Zoro smiled calmly, but inwardly he was more than reliefed this all was finally over. They've made it! Although he'd more than once felt his heart stop, which he would never admit out loud. Especially not before his little cheesehead-brother.

Ace and his friends joked around although the brother of Luffy still needed medical treatment. But even Brook was laughing while bandaging Ace's wound. The old Indian couldn't believe it. Blackbeard had lost, they had really won! It was a great feeling, and suddenly the Indian with the black afro felt free.

Chopper wagged his tail in happiness and jumped around, trying to get as much attention as possible. Luffy bent down and hugged his little friend tightly which didn't seem to bother the dog. Instead, Chopper barked happily and licked all over Luffy's hands. The strawhat teen laughed loudly, along the rest of his nakama and the Indians.

Luffy then, beside his friends, sighed deeply, wiping some sweet on his forehead away. This all had been so damn exhausting and he was already beyond being only tired, as well as his friends. More than one time he'd thought he'd lose his life, and then something nearly impossible had happened. Now he'd really had one adventure! He sighed again, still a smile upon his face.

Now it all seemed as if it had never really happened, like a faraway dream. Or more a nightmare. He was happy to finally have woken up from it. Now he'd never have to see that face again. Then he turned away from his laughing and cheering nakama to look at the old guy, his very grandfather who looked sternly back at Luffy.

Luffy's friends went quiet as they saw this, exchanged worried glances and just watched in silence. The atmosphere around them tensed again and time seemed to stop. All of sudden Garp made a move and began, slowly and with small steps, walking to his grandson who frowned slightly. Luffy didn't know what to do nor what could happen next. The gray-haired Indian wiped the blood from the fight away and stopped right before the black-haired half Indian.

"What is he...?" Usopp murmured, nervously nibbling on his nails. The others just kept on watching in tensed silence. Even Dragon didn't make a move.

And before Luffy knew it, he was taken in a tight and strong embrace, feeling the warmth of the other. He widened his eyes and was at a loss of words. His own grandfather was hugging him! It may seemed like a simple gesture to others but it was more than that. No words needed to be spoken in this moment.

Ace's smile spread across his whole face as he felt more than happy for his lil' brother. His Indian friends smiled down at the man, noticing the happy mood.

Nami and Robin looked at each other before giving off a nice smile. Robin was so glad Garp's depression had finally come to an end. From now on everything would be getting better, as the life finally returned into that old man's eyes. Brook, Usopp and the other Indians smiled too and felt happy for their chief as well as for Luffy.

Garp truly was a strong man. He'd proven that one more time to them now by taking the first important step.

~YXYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY~

"How are you feeling?" Robin wanted to know, smiling softly at the long-nosed Indian who'd just awoken from his long sleep. He blinked, realizing he was in a huge tent. Robin, Zoro and Franky were beside him, waiting for an answer. What had happened? Usopp then remembered everything at once, eyes widening. "W-we.. did it?" he said while looking with huge eyes at his friends. They just nodded, chuckling. Then Usopp grinned back, laughing.

"Ha ha ha! Me isn't that easy to kill off! I'm super Usopp, ne Franky?" he joked and gave the laughing Franky a high five. "Yosh! Supa!" he agreed, going into a, in Robin's and Zoro's opinion, not so 'supa' looking position. But even if it looked awkward it brought the two to chuckle. The old Usopp and Franky were back!

Usopp coughed and shooed the others out of their tent to put some clothes on. He had a bandage on his right arm but beside that and that he felt a little tired he was fine.

After going out of the dark tent he first had to get adjusted to the bright light outside. For once, the sun was shining brightly, warming the usual cold air a bit and created a warm and nice atmosphere. It seemed like spring would come soon. What a beautiful day it was. He went to his waiting friends, asking: "There am I! Where are the others?" Franky grinned, pointing to a huge tent not far away from where they were and they started walking.

Zoro and the rest told him he'd been sleeping for 26 hours now and woken up only a bit later than Robin, Franky, Nami, Zoro, Brook and Sanji. Luffy apparently was still getting some rest in an other tent not far away where Nami and the others were waiting for him to wake up. Not only that, they also told the long nosed Indian they were with Dragon and his men, a bit away from Usopp's Indian village. Dragen's had been nearer at that time so they all just moved to their enemies, getting their sleep there.

"So even Garp-san's here?" Usopp asked somewhat surprised. If he thought about it, it sure had been a true surprise that Dragon and his warriors had come to help them fighting Blackbeard's and Crocodile's men off... and now he had invited his enemies?

Robin nodded while smiling mysterious. She could understand Usopp's surprise and suspicion, she herself had been suspicious at that. After all, their two tribes had been enemies since a very long time, it all had started long before Usopp had been born because of a simple and stupid reason.

A huge smile was to be seen on the curly-haired Indian's face as he walked besides his friends. "We... finally have peace?" he murmured a question, not even awaiting an answer.

As they finally reached the tent, they could hear someone laughing and immediately realized who it was. "Hey Brook, Luffy still asleep?" Zoro wanted to know as they entered the tent and saw the rest of their nakama and Ace sitting and lying there. But not only their nakama were there, also, much to Robin's and Usopp's surprise, Dragon's wife.

Brook nodded as he looked at the snoring teen. "Can't you hear him? Yohoho!" he answered, smiling. The seventeen-years old nearly had delivered a fever after falling asleep. But Brook had somehow managed to steady him and so they only needed to wait til he'd wake up. The Indian doctor had said he'd a deep sleep, snoring the hours away like that with hardly any movements. Luffy truly had been beyond his limits and damn exhausted after that, but then no wonder.

Ace grinned and ruffled his little brother's black hair, watching him sleep.

"Hey Usopp! What's up?" Sanji greeted the curly-haired teen and shortly waved him calmly. Usopp grinned back and sat beside the young cook, saying he was fine. "You sure have slept long." the man with the curly eyebrow commented and Usopp nervously scratched the back of his head, being the last but one. Then he realized something and he looked at snoring Luffy, then looked back at Sanji who got the hint.

"Yeah yeah, he can sleep like he'd never done anything else in his life." the blonde laughed. Chopper who happened to be in the tent too, barked happily and licked Usopp's hand as a greeting. "Hi there, Chopper! You ok?" Usopp grinned and petted the dog. He really liked the little one.

The beautiful woman, Dragon's wife, was kneeling right besides Luffy too which gave Nami an uncomfortable feeling. The young woman with the short orange hair sat near her cousin Sanji, observing every motion of this Boa Hancock. Said woman was busy with watching Luffy as well as always ruffling the boy's hair. Even Ace wasn't all too happy about that too and showed Hancock his protective side, his hand resting on Luffy's head like saying: 'Don't touch him!'

Hancock however didn't even pay attention to that and kept on giggling at the sleeping boy. Robin slightly sweat-dropped at that but didn't comment on it, being the silent observer and sat down as well, chatting to the others.

Now everyone but Ace, Hancock and Nami were talking to each other. The two of them seemed to clearly dislike this strange wife of Dragon, although Ace and Nami had to admit she was beautiful and attractive. But even though, she had absolutely no right to-

"He surely is a little cute one, isn't he?" Hancock said, her brown eyes still on Luffy's face. Ace was immediately glaring at the woman. He hated it if someone was talking about his brother like that! What was wrong with her? But being the gentleman he was he didn't say anything. Lucky for Nami she didn't need to be gentle, her opponent was a woman as well. So no regard!

Nami's blood was ready to boil as the penetrative woman was talking about how cute Luffy looked in his sleep. "Just shut up!" she said at once, causing everyone to gasp. All pairs of eyes were resting on her and suddenly it was deadly silent in the tent beside Luffy's soft snoring. But Nami didn't even seem to regret anything of what she just said.

"Ehm.. Nami?" Usopp carefully asked but didn't get an answer. Hancock shut her mouth and looked at Nami, not amused. Her attention went from Luffy to Nami and the orange-haired girl was almost happy about that, but found the sharp glaring eyes were getting on her nerves. Just when Hancock was about to stand up and shout back, Nami sazed the chance to speak again, this time a bit calmer.

"You will wake him up this way. And he still needs all sleep he can get, right?" she said, glaring right back. As if she would let herself getting scared at this annoying woman's glare! Hah!

Hancock narrowed her eyes arrogantly as she looked Nami up and down, before she smirked, finger on her lips. "So the two of you are a couple? I'm sorry, but no one has informed me about that." Hancock said and threw her long black hair back in an arrogant way. Dragon's wife knew exactly that she could tease the other girl with that, and it worked. Nami only felt like strangling this woman but got a hold of herself, remaining as calm as possible.

"No, we are not a couple!" she snapped back, crossing her arms and stepped closer to Hancock, looking directly into the tall woman's eyes. "But I think that's none of your damn business!" she added in her anger as she glared at her opponent. Nami's nakama held their breath and even Ace looked somewhat troubled, not wanting a catfight breaking out in the tent. Luckily, Hancock, secretly biting her bit, only smiled back, stepping past Nami and went out of the tent, saying:

"He really is cute. But you're as well." with that, she was gone and Nami was about to explode. Chopper put his tail between his legs and laid down besides the strong looking Ace, just in case.

"Who does this f****** b**** think she is? Arrgh! I can't believe it! What a bitch!" Nami cursed and sweared, making her cousins sweat drop and exchanging glances with each other. "Uhm Nami-san, don't yell around now please.." Brook carefully remembered the orange-haired girl of Luffy and she only 'grrr'-ed back. Robin slightly chuckled at that and Usopp and Franky tried to ignore them, not wanting to get beaten by the orange-haired beauty.

Ace pouted childishly, agreeing. "Yep, she really is getting on my nerves! Why is she so keen on Luffy?" Ace grumbled, looking back at his still exhausted looking brother under the huge amount of pelts.

The others chuckled at that, glad Hancock had disappeared before something worse could have happened. But they could understand Nami and Ace very well, Hancock had been quite weird in Luffy's presence.

"No idea. What a strange woman." Zoro said and within two seconds a huge fight began between Sanji and him. "Take that back! She's absolutely gorgeous!"

Nami threw him out without mercy.

**XYXYXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Yup, Hancock appears in this story! :) Hope this was a little surprise for you^^ But I just wanted to write a little part with her and Nami, arguing about Luffy! What do you think about it? **

**Well, reviews would be absolutely amazing, so please leave a comment! Would make me very very happy! :D**

**Until next time, take care! :D**


	31. Nightmare?

**Author's note: Hey guys! Before you start throwing things at me, let me please explain. I know I haven't updated in such a long time, ****I'm terribly sorry**** for that, but I had lots of projects to do for school and other things to do. Plus, my computer deleted this chapter not too long ago so I had to start writing it again, and THEN my labtop had a virus -.- This all was really annoying but I've finally managed to type this chapter up! :D**

**Thanks for waiting so patiently for this chapter, I hope it was worth the long wait.. **

**SniperKingSogeking0341: Lol yeah finally xD Aah I 'm sorry for this, I guess Nami isn't too pleased about her appearance as well^^ That's nice and I'm sorry for telling you that the next one is the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one! ;)**

**DarkAndStormyNight: Yeps, after getting on our nerves for so long! x3 Lol oh yeah! ;D**

**Please enjoy! =D**

**Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me… sadly. **

**YXYXYXYXYXY**

**Chapter 31 – Nightmare?**

"What about your wound Ace?" Usopp asked, watching Luffy's face twisting in his sleep. He wondered what his friend was dreaming about… it didn't seem too pleasant.

Ace, busy with gently striking his brother's soft hair, looked up with a soft smile on his lips. He nodded, "Yeah, it's healing fine much to my surprise. It hardly hurts anymore, Brook really is an amazing doctor." he commented and indirectly thanking the old medicine man for the great treatment he had received. Brook smiled and nodded in return.

"That's great to hear." Nami agreed and was really happy for the strawhat teen. Then her smile was replaced by a slight frown. "Is he okay?" she pointed at Luffy who didn't seem to be in a peaceful sleep as he twisted around and made pained expressions.

"Brook, do something!" Usopp ordered in his panic, fearing for the teen's life. Sanji, who just had come into the tent after Nami had thrown him out, looked at Luffy with a concerned expression but shook his head.

"I don't think we need Brook here. Luffy just seems to have a bad dream." Sanji nodded to himself and even Ace stayed calm. "I've seen this more than one time at night, when he was sleeping. I guess he does have nightmares sometimes." Sanji added and sighed. Nightmares were really awful. But no wonder Luffy got them once in a while after all he'd been through.

"Yeah, he used to dream about his past a lot when we were still kids. It was terrible." Ace said, not stopping with ruffling Luffy's black hair. "He often dreamt about the one night… the night his true nightmare had begun."

Ace didn't need to explain any further. Everyone in the tent knew which night Ace had meant by that, it was quite obvious.

"This is so sad… I wish I could help Luffy-bro.." Franky stated, finding this situation really not supa. The others nodded as a tensed silence settled in between them.

"Well, his nightmares stopped after a few years we spent together on the street. I was a bit surprised to see he has them again, but then again it's no wonder." Ace looked at his little brothers face with worry shining in his eyes. Luffy hid so much sadness inside him…

Zoro looked up at this. He knew what Ace was trying to say and sighed. "You mean you practically replaced his bad memories with joyful ones? This seems logical to me." having a thoughtful expression on his face, Zoro let his glance wander around until it came to a stop at Luffy's face.

What was he dreaming about? Everyone couldn't help but wonder. Wouldn't it be better to wake him up?

Luffy suddenly murmured something under his breath and just Ace and Nami caught it. "No…" Luffy silently repeated, sounding a little distressed.

"_Dad!" little Luffy joyfully shrieked as he played tag with his father. Luffy just had turned five last week and the air was full of nice smells, flowers were blooming in different colours and the sun's warmth spread across the country. It was a beautiful day. _

"_Hahaha! If only you could see your shocked face now!" Shanks laughed and Luffy couldn't help but join. His father had just really shocked him, coming from behind like that! But Luffy wasn't mad at Shanks, of course not. He loved his father and his mother Nayeli more than anyone. And Shanks was so cool, too, with his amazing red hair! Luffy had been a little upset that he hadn't red hair, too. But then, his mother's black hair was really cool, too!_

_Little Luffy laughed loudly as his father began to tickle him. Both of them were on the ground, the green grass surrounding them as Shanks kept on tickling. Luffy was laughing hysterically on the way. _

_Soon the two of them were lying on the ground, watching the fluffy looking clouds floating by like small sheep. The sun's warm rays were gently touching their faces. Luffy's head rested on his dad's stomach and both were enjoying the peaceful moment for a while. _

"_Hey Luffy?" Shanks suddenly voiced quietly, but loud enough for the little boy to understand. The young boy turned his head a bit to see his father's face and saw Shanks looking up into the sky, seeming quite absent-mindly. He had a distant look on his face and Luffy suddenly began to worry something was wrong. He had no idea what it could be nor where this sudden feeling of uneasiness was coming from. _

"_Yeah?" Luffy asked in a sqeaky-sounding voice and a small butterfly flew by. Luffy normally would have jumped up and followed such an interesting insect but now he got a feeling Shanks wanted to tell him something important. _

_Shanks sighed. "Have I ever told you about my treasure?" _

_Luffy's eyes widened. Treasure? This sounded amazing! "No! What is it? What is it?" Luffy asked curiously, eager to hear the story. _

"_Well, once I have been travelling to Alaska…" Shanks began and suddenly a shadow appeared besides the two. _

"_Mum!" Luffy announced happily and stretched both arms out to Nayeli. His mother bent down beside Shank's head and looked a little worried. _

"_Shanks… you won't tell him something that could bring him in danger, right?" She only asked in a soft but concerned sounding tone. Both of them remained silent for a few minutes and the sun was being shielded away by a huge cloud. It looked quite dark. _

_Luffy didnt' understand why the two were suddenly so serious. What was his mum talking about? Why should he be in danger? "What's wrong?" he carefully asked but was ignored as the parents exchanged silent glances. _

"_Mum? Dad?" Luffy started to worry and sat up, looking at his parents as if he was about to cry. Where they arguing? He didn't want his parents to do so! But what was wrong with them? Did he do something stupid again? _

_Then his mother smiled warmly down at him, gently ruffling his son's hair. "Don't worry Luffy. It's all okay." she softly reassured him and Luffy immediately believed her and smiled back. Luffy giggled as his mother patted his head gently, he liked it. This showed him how much Nayeli loved him, and he loved her right back. _

"_You know, little one… A treasure isn't something you automatically get in life… you have to find it." Shanks murmured and smiled. "And a real precious treasure is nothing material. Nayeli and you for example are my most important treasures." he added and Nayeli smiled, nodding. _

_Luffy didn't get any of this and just looked up at his father with wide, curious eyes. "Huh?" he asked and both of his parents giggled, smiling. _

"_Nevermind. You'll soon learn that yourself. Now let's go inside, dinner's ready. You sure are hungry, aren't you?" Shanks said and got up, walking behinds Nayeli towards the small wooden house they lived in. _

_Luffy grinned, nodding happily. "Of course! I'm starving!" he jumped to his little feet and began to follow his parents. _

_But somehow, his little legs didn't seem to be able to catch up with them as they were getting more and more far away. Luffy's grin was replaced by a shocked frown and he stretched his hands out for them. _

"_Mum! Dad! Wait for me!" he said, his eyes wide as his parents began to slowly fade away. Luffy gasped and suddenly screamed. Something was wrong here. Terribly wrong, Luffy could feel that from the bottom of his stomach._

_There it was again, this horrible feeling that something was going wrong. His parents slowly vanished, Luffy tried to reach out for them but was too slow, too small and too silent for them to notice. _

_All his surroundings changed__ too! All the green grass under his feet disappeared, the sounds of birds twittering vanished and he couldn't feel the soft breeze of wind and the nice warmth of the sun anymore. Somehow it all had become gray and his parents were so far away now. He could feel a pain in his heart he certainly disliked._

"_NO! Mommy, daddy!" he screamed and noticed that his voice suddenly was deeper than before. Not only that, he __seemed to run faster. Looking down he realized his legs had gotten longer, he was suddenly older than five! But at the moment that didn't bother him much. As his head snapped back he saw that his parents had stopped, still their backs turned towards him. What was going on?_

"_Mom, dad! What's going on?" he yelled towards them, hoping they would answer or at least turn around, show any signs of live. They were just standing there like two statues made of stone. Luffy freezed, it was cold. Why was everything so gray? Why didn't his parents answer? Luffy suddenly felt so alone._

_As if no one was there, so lonely. But why? His mom and his dad were still there, weren't they? Luffy clung to this thought, although there was something deep inside him that this was wrong. He tried to ignore the terrible feeling. _

_Soon he was exhausted and stopped, falling to his knees to catch his breath. He couldn't reach his parents.. why? What was going on? He needed answers! Again he called out for them, but this time he heard his own voice cracking. Why was everything so confusing? And everything was so dark, too!_

_All of sudden, his parents turned around, slowly. Luffy wanted to smile, wanted to say something, but his voice was gone. This was weird and suddenly he heard himself gasp as he saw his parent's faces. _

_They looked so… so old! His dad's hair wasn't red anymore it was white as well as his mother's hair. Luffy opened his mouth to a silent scream. They looked at him with tired eyes and their son was more than surprised to see them in this age… why did they get older? Luffy didn't understand anything that was going on. His parents were young, weren't they? _

_But suddenly, Luffy's memories pressed down on him like a weight. Luffy gasped again, this time louder and he began to shudder at the pictures of that night his parents were murdered. _

_The coldness from around him crept up on him like an evil monster and seemed to laugh at him. Luffy shut his eyes tightly, not wanting to experience this again. He grabbed his head and smashed his forehead to the gray and cold ground to make the memories stop floating through his head. _

_He didn't want to see it! Not again! It was just too much! Everything had been so peaceful the moment before and now the horrible truth crashed down onto him like the waves of a heavy storm. If only he could forget about this night forever… _

"Luffy always seems to have the same nightmare. Or at least similar ones." Ace told the others who kept on watching as Luffy murmured something, sweating up a storm. Brook was by his side to make sure everything was okay, at least physically and watched him closely.

Ace tried to calm his little brother by gently running a hand through his hair but nothing seemed to work this moment. Luffy was restless and made uneasy sounds, sad expression upon his pale face.

Slowly, the rest of Luffy's nakama came nearer and sat down directly by his side, looking at him in sympathie and worry. If only they could help Luffy…

"_Aah! Ahaa!" Luffy began to cry out his mental pain, grabbing his head with trembling hands. His father's last words rang through his head and the picture of his dead mother flashed up before his inner eyes over and over again. Luffy coughed and felt like throwing up, but then he cried out again__ as the picture of Crocodile and Blackbeard showed up in his mind. He couldn't stand seeing those two again and let out a heart wrenching cry, wanting all just to stop!_

_His parents didn't move, only staring down at him with really sad eyes, holding each other's hands. _

"_Luffy!" Someone called out his name. But Luffy didn't know the owner. Or did he? It somehow seemed familiar… who was it? _

_Another flashback and a terrible shudder ran through Luffy's entire body, he chocked as tears began to stream down his face. It was so cold, so damn cold! His heart felt like it was being tore in two and he felt like… dying. Yeah, dying sounded really good to him at the moment as another horrible flashback showed up. _

_His parents looked down at him from where they were standing, a single tear was rolling down Nayeli's face as she and even Shanks were trembling at the sight of their broken son. Yes, Luffy was mentally broken._

"_Make it stop! Just make it stop please!" Luffy screamed, his eyes still tightly shut, "just let me die already!" he cried out in distress as Blackbeard's laughter echoed in his mind. This monster was grinning down at him, with such an amused face. Luffy coughed and continued crying. _

_Now Nayeli began to burst into tears but no sound was made as she buried her face into Shank's whispered something towards Shanks and he nodded, holding her protectively against his chest. Shanks wished he could hold Luffy like that now too… but he knew he couldn't. _

"_You have to be strong." Shanks suddenly said even if he knew it was forbidden. Nayeli looked up at him with teary eyes and he grabbed her hand, smiling softly at her and she sobbed, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. _

_Then Shanks stepped forwards, a few more steps and he would reach his trembling son who had just said those horrible words. "You shouldn't think of dying yet. it's way too early for you. Luffy." he spoke gently and at the mention of his name Luffy looked up, tears streaming down his pale face. _

"_W-what? D-dad..?" Luffy unsurely murmured and sobbed between. Gulping, his confused mind began to register that this was his own father, the father he was missing so much, right before him now. He had noticed he was there. Shanks had noticed! _

_Luffy coughed and inhaled deeply, panting in exhaustion. Slowly, the bad thoughts in his mind began to disappear and the smiling face of his young father showed up before his inner eyes. Luffy's breath was ragged and he saw his father's hand stretching out towards him. _

_Nayeli was standing beside him, smiling with so much warmth that Luffy began to feel much warmer. Slowly the coldness in his body… the coldness in his heart… seemed to vanish just by this friendly, caring smile from his mother. _

"_Luffy…" there. There were these strange voices again and Luffy couldn't remember whose voices these were. His shaking hand reached out to take the old hand of his father who smiled. The two of them were grabbing each others hand and Luffy felt new hope arise inside him, just by the simple touch. _

"…_dad…" Luffy whispered and the tears just wouldn't stop, "Mum.. I've missed you so much… will you stay with me?" he heard himself asking. _

"Will you stay with me…?" Luffy murmured with a cracking voice and Chopper began to lick his hand, that was clenched to a fist, affectionately. He didn't like it if Luffy had one of those horrible nightmares.

It broke his nakama's hearts to hear that. Luffy was talking about his parents, they knew that. Nami quietly began to sob, knowing it must be horrible for Luffy right now.

"…Luffy… you're not alone." Sanji suddenly said in a low but caring tone. Franky, currently crying like a baby, nodded furiously.

"That's right! Ya can always count on us, ya know bro!" he said, sobbing.

Zoro stared into Luffy's pale face. "Luffy don't give up. You still have nakama, haven't you?" he murmured. Normally he would never ever had said that out loud, but this time Zoro could care less.

"We will never leave your side." Robin spoke in a gentle whisper.

"D-don't leave me alone again!" Luffy said in his sleep, making mostly of his nakama bit their lips in sadness. This coming from Luffy… it sounded so wrong! Luffy should be happy!

"Luffy.."! Ace announced and grabbed his hand to squeeze it tightly.

"… _What are these voices?" Luffy asked, still sobbing as he looked up to his parents. Was this reality? Were they alive? __Luffy couldn't tell. The seventeen-year old tried to stand up and hug his parents but suddenly he felt the grip around his father's hand loosen. _

_Luffy's eyes widened and he gulped, looking up he saw the two persons he cared so much for fading away. "No! Not again! You've left me once, don't leave me again!" Luffy cried out in despair. New tears began to make its way down his pale cheeks as Luffy felt the mental pain breaking his heart. _

_He wanted to take his parents into a tight embrance and never let them go again. He had been missing them so much! It hurt so much to see them fading away again! _

"_D-don't leave me alone again!" he cried, not able to stand up. The laughter of the two murderers echoed again and it made Luffy's mind spin around, dizziness overtook him and Luffy trembled. Why were they leaving? Just why? Why.. did they have to die?_

"_Luffy listen closely... I know you've been missing us like hell, like we did miss you. But this.. this isn't the right time nor the right place for us to meet again, do you understand? It's not your time. You should go on living! Because you're not alone, do you hear those voices?" Nayeli began to speak in a soft tone and Luffy cried even more._

_He didn't want to listen, he just wanted his parents to stay and all the bad memories to vanish forever. _

"_Shanks and me… we died, it's true and there is nothing in this world that can change those horrible things that have happened to you.. nor can it let you forget what happened." she said. _

_The worried voices could be heard in the distance. Luffy shook his head furiously. "Don't go! Don't leave me alone!" he cried, wanting to reach out for his parents again. The couple seemed like ghosts, slowly disappearing. Luffy didn't want that to happen!_

_Suddenly Luffy could feel warmth in his hand. What was that strange feeling..? It felt as if someone was squeezing his hand affectionately… who was that? It felt… so nice…but there was no body around besides his parents… everything was just gray…_

"_Mum is right, little one. " Shanks voice was louder than the horrible laugh of Blackbeard and Crocodile and Luffy bit his lip. "Keep on going. You are strong enough, we know that and you know that too." Shanks and Nayeli were hardly to be seen anymore, only the shapes. His voice sounded so far away again… _

"_If you feel that strength fading away then remember that there are still some people to lend you their strength. You are not alone in this world, Luffy! Remember the people you have around you, haven't you found your precious treasure already? We know you have shared amazing nakama around you, haven't you? Did you forget about them?" Shanks said and Luffy's eyes widened. _

"_N-no, of course I haven't! I love them!" he said back, still trembling all over. His nakama! Luffy gulped, how could he have forgotten? He… would never be alone with them around! But his parents… _

_Looking straight ahead, his parents looked down at him with a proud smile that made the trembling suddenly stop. Luffy looked up at them, tears streaming down his face. _

_The two of them were almost gone, but still they were giving off so much warmth it send all the coldness in his heart away at once. _

_Luffy grabbed his heart with his right pale hand and felt his left hand being squeezed again. The voices around him got louder, giving him new strength just like shanks had told him. Warmth was beginning to flow through his veins and suddenly Luffy didn't feel… lonely. He realized the voices, no, his nakama were worried about him, calling out for him. They were waiting! _

"_Luffy, can you hear them? These people have the power to help you overcome everything terrible you've gone through. They give you a place to live and, all above, they make you smile. You have gone through a lot of horrible things Luffy but with them you can keep on smiling and make new, amazing and happy memories. They're your treasure you have to protect." _

_His mother said while smiling warmly at him. Luffy felt courage and confidence built up inside him and he was nodding with wide eyes. He would promise._

_The voices called out, sounding concerned. "Luffy, we're with you…", "Luffy, wake up!", "We're always there for you, Luffy!, "Luffy-bro!" and things like that were said and Luffy could feel more warmth spread around, coming right from his heart. _

_The strawhat teen felt the caring and the warmth of these voices and never wanted them to stop talking. These voices made him feel comfortable, and safe, they gave him the feeling that he was being needed, that he was not alone. They made the coldness, the painful memories and this awful gray colour everywhere go away._

_Luffy looked at his precious parents one more time, before he felt his lips pulling into a small but true smile on their own. "Let's meet again sometime" _

"Luffy!" Nami said between her sobs.

The teenager had opened his eyes and blinked around in confusion, sweat was running down his forehead. The black-haired teen tried to make the dizziness go away by blinking and then he grabbed his head, his vision clearing. His foggy mind registered whose hand he was holding and his glance fell upon Ace, who smiled reliefed.

"Are you okay?" Usopp asked. Where there tears on his cheeks? Luffy wanted to say something but nothing came out of his mouth so he slowly nodded, still irritated. Where was he anyways?

"Finally… took you sometime to wake up, Luffy. Are you hungry?" Sanji asked and tried to hide his worry with that simple question. Luffy could feel the caring tone in the cooks voice and he managed a weak smile.

Nami wiped her tears away and smiled at him, glad to see he was okay. "Oh goddammit Luffy, you really made me worry a lot… don't scare me like that ever again, you hear me?" she said, while smiling with teary eyes. Luffy first looked a little confused, then he grinned.

Before he could say anything Ace hugged Luffy tightly and made Luffy smile by doing this

. No, Luffy truly didn't feel alone anymore. Not with these people, his nakama, around.

**YXYXYXYXYXYXY**

**Was this too kitschy? I'm not sure lol. But I hope you enjoyed reading! =D **

**Please let me know what you think of this chapter, next will be the last and the more reviews I get the faster I will update! Besides, reviews really make me happy, so please leave a review! **

**They are always greatly appreciated! =D **


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